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THE 


Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library 


OF  BALTIMORE  CITY 


Letters  and  Documents  Relating  to  its 
Foundation  and  Organization 


WITH  THE 


DEDICATORY  ADDRESSES  AND  EXERCISES 
January  4,  1886. 


BALTIMORE 
1886 


TRUSTEES. 

ENOCH  PRATT,  CHARLES  J.  BONAPARTE, 

GEORGE  WM.  BROWN,  GEORGE  B.  COLE, 

NATHL.  H.  MORISON,  LL.D.,     EDWARD  STABLER,  Jr., 
HENRY  JANES,  JAMES  A.  GARY, 

JOHN  W.  McCOY. 


OFFICERS   OF  THE  BOARD    OF   TRUSTEES. 

Enoch  Pratt,  President. 
George  B.  Cole,  Vice-President. 
Edward  Stabler,  Jr.,  Secretary. 
Henry  Janes,  Treasurer. 


COMMITTEES  OF  THE  BOARD. 


Exeaitive  Comniittee, 

Enoch  Pratt, 
James  A.  Gary, 
Henry  Janes. 


Library  Committee. 

John  W.  McCoy, 

Nathl.  H.  Morison,  LL.D. 

George  B.  Cole. 


Cotiimittee  on  Accounts. 

Edward  Stabler,  Jr., 
Charles  J.  Bonaparte, 
George  Wm.  Brown. 


OFFICERS  OF   THE  LIBRARY. 

Lewis  H.  Steiner,  M.  D.,  Librarian. 
Charles  Evans,  Assist.  Librarian. 
Henry  C.  Wagner,  Registrar. 


Press  of  Isaac  Friedmwald,  Baltimore. 


CONTENTS. 


L 


LETTERS : 

From  Enoch  Pratt  to  Mayor  and  City  Council,  .    .     , 
"      Hon.  Wm,  P.  Whyte,  Mayor,  to  City  Council,     . 
*'      Hon.  Wm.  P.  Whyte,  Mayor,  to  City  Council, 
"      THE  Law  Officers  of  the  City  to  the  Mayor, 
"■     Hon.  Wm.  P.  Whyte,  Mayor,  to  City  Council, 
"      Enoch  Pratt  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,      .    .     , 

Original  Action  of  the  City  Council 

Action  of  the  City  Council   Accepting  Deed  from  Enoch 

Pratt  and  Wife, 46 

Enabling  Act  Passed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Maryland,     13 
Joint  Resolution  of  Thanks  to  Enoch  Pratt  Passed  by  the 

General  Assembly, i8 

Ordinance  of  the  City  Council  Providing  for  the  Perpetual 

Annuity,  etc., 20 

Ordinance  of  the  City  Council  Providing  for  the  Invest- 
ment of  the  Library  Fund, 33 

Election  bytheCitizens  of  Baltimoreto  Ratify  the  Enabling 

Act  and  Ordinances, 28 

Mayor's  Proclamation  of  the  Result  of  the  Election,      .    .     29 
Deed  from  Enoch  Pratt  and  Wife  to  Mayor  and  City  Council,    36 

Dedication  Ceremonies,  January  4,  1886,        51 

Programme, 52 

Prayer  by  Rev.  Charles  R.  Weld,  B.  D., 53 

Address  by  Hon.  James  Hodges,  Mayor  of  Baltimore,       .     55 

Response  of  Enoch  Pratt, 68 

Oration  by  the  Hon.  George  Wm.  Brown,  of  the  Board 

OF  Trustees, 70 

Address  by  Hon.  J.  Morrison  Harris,  of  Baltimore,    .     .    86 
"  "   Hon.  F.  C.  Latrobe,  Ex-Mayor  of  Baltimore,    98 

•'  "   Dr.  Lewis  H.  Steiner,  Librarian, loi 

Description  of  Central  Library  Building, io8 

"  "  Branch  Library  Buildings. 115 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Enoch  Pratt, 117 


^k 


LETTER  OF  ENOCH  PR  A  TT. 


Baltimore,  yanuary  21,  1882. 
To  the  Honorable  the  Mayor  and 

City  Council  of  Baltimore. 

I  have  for  some  years  contemplated  establishing  a 
Free  Circulating  Library,  for  the  benefit  of  our  whole 
City,  and  in  pursuance  of  this  plan  I  have  entered 
into  a  contract  to  erect  a  fireproof  building  on  my 
Mulberry  street  lot,  capable  of  holding  200,000  vol- 
umes— my  purpose  being  to  have  branches  con- 
nected with  it  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  City,  under 
the  same  management. 

The  excavation  for  the  foundation  has  been  com- 
menced, and  the  building  will  be  well  advanced  this 
year,  and  completed  in  the  summer  of  1883.  It  will 
cost,  when  ready  for  occupancy,  about  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  ($225,000),  and  upon 
its  completion  I  propose  to  deed  it  to  the  City.  The 
tide  to  all  the  books  and  property  is  to  be  vested  in 
the  City,  and  I  will  pay  to  your  Honorable  Body,  upon 
its  completion,  the  additional  sum  of  eight  hundred 
and  thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty- 


6 

three  and  a  third  dollars  ($833,333/^),  making  one 
million  fifty-eight  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  and  one-third  dollars,  provided  the  City  will 
grant  and  create  an  annuity  of  fifty  thousand  dollars 
($50,000)  per  annum  forever,  payable  quarterly  to  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  for  the  support  and  maintenance 
of  the  Library  and  its  branches. 

I  propose  that  a  Board  of  nine  Trustees  be  incorpo- 
rated for  the  management  of  "  The  Pratt  Free  Library 
of  the  City  of  Baltimore,"  the  Board  to  be  selected 
by  myself  from  our  best  citizens,  and  all  vacancies 
which  shall  occur,  shall  be  filled  by  the  Board.  The 
articles  of  incorporation  will  contain  a  provision  that 
no  Trustee  or  officer  shall  be  appointed  or  removed 
on  religious  or  political  grounds.  The  Trustees  are  to 
receive  from  the  City  the  quarterly  payments,  and  to 
expend  it  at  their  discretion  for  the  purposes  of  the 
Library. 

It  is  believed  that  this  annual  sum  will  afford  a  suf- 
ficient fund  for  the  purchase  of  books,  for  establish- 
ing the  branches,  and  for  the  general  management. 

The  Trustees  will  be  required  to  make  an  annual 
report  to  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  their  pro- 
ceedings, and  of  the  condition  of  the  Library,  and 
the  report  will  contain  a  full  account  of  the  money 
received  and  expended. 

This  plan  is  suggested  not  without  due  considera- 
tion of  the  power  of  the  City  to  carry  it  out.     The 


City  is  expressly  authorized  by  its  charter  to  accept 
trusts  "  for  any  general  corporation  purpose,  or  for 
the  general  purposes  of  education  " ;  and  although 
its  power  of  creating  debts  is  limited  by  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  State,  yet  as  the  property  of  the  Library 
is  to  belong  to  the  City,  and  as  it  will  receive  a  sum 
of  money  to  be  disposed  of  as  it  pleases,  with  the 
engagement  only  to  pay  an  annual  sum  for  the  sup- 
port of  its  own  Institution,  it  is  believed  that  such  a 
transaction  will  not  involve  the  creation  of  a  debt 
within  the  meaning  of  the  constitutional  prohibition. 

I  suggest  that  if  the  money  to  be  paid  by  me  as 
above  stated,  were  added  to  the  Sinking  Fund,  and 
the  Interest  carefully  funded,  it  would,  in  no  very  long 
time,  pay  off  the  debt  of  the  City ;  but  this  is  intended 
only  as  a  suggestion,  and  the  disposal  of  the  money 
is  left  to  your  Honorable  Body. 

If,  however,  your  Honorable  Body  should,  on  mature 
consideration,  be  of  the  opinion  that  the  annual  pa)-- 
ments  as  proposed  would  involve  the  creation  of  a 
debt,  authority  for  that  may  be  obtained  by  comply- 
ing with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  ;  that  is, 
the  debt  may  be  created  by  the  City,  provided  it  be 
authorized  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
Maryland,  and  by  an  ordinance  of  the  Mayor  and 
City  Council  of  Baltimore,  submitted  to  the  legal 
voters  of  the  City  of  Baltimore  at  such  time  and 
place  as  may   be   fixed  by  said  ordinance,  and  ap- 


8 

proved  by  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  at  such  tune 
and  place.  I  cannot  but  think  that  such  an  authority 
from  the  General  Assembly,  and  from  the  Mayor  and 
City  Council  of  Baltimore,  and  from  a  majority  of  the 
legal  voters  of  the  City,  would  be  cheerfully  given. 

The  plan  proposed  for  the  support  and  manage- 
ment of  the  Library  is  the  result  of  long  and  careful 
consideration,  and,  I  am  satisfied,  is  well  adapted  to 
promote  the  great  object  in  view,  the  free  circulation 
of  the  books  of  a  large  and  ever-growing  Library 
among  the  people  of  the  whole  City.  I  trust  that  it 
will  receive  the  approval  of  your  Honorable  Body, 
and  of  the  citizens  of  Baltimore. 

Enoch  Pratt. 


Mayor's  Office,  City  Hall, 

Baltimore,  January  23,  1882. 
To  the  Honorable  the  Members  of  the 

First  and  Second  Branches  of  the  City  Council^ 
Gentlemen  : 

I  transmit  herewith  a  communication  from  Enoch 
Pratt,  Esq.,  dated  January  21,  1882,  proposing  the 
erection  and  transfer  to  the  City,  for  public  use,  of  a 
Library  Building,  upon  certain  terms  therein  indi- 
cated. 

The  tender  of  this  munificent  gift  to  the  City  is 
worthy  of  all  praise,  and  I  commend  to  your  careful 


9 

consideration  the  conditions  with  which  the  donation 
is  coupled. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

Wm.  Pinkney  Whyte, 

Mayor. 


ACTION  OF  THE  CITY  COUNCIL. 


Baltimore,  yanuary  31,  1882. 

Mr.  Wilmer,  from  the  Joint  Standing  Committee 
on  Ways  and  Means,  submitted  the  following  report 
and  accompanying  resolution,  which  were  read: 

The  Joint  Standing  Committee  on  Ways  and 
Means,  to  whom  was  referred  a  communication  from 
Mr.  Enoch  Pratt  in  relation  to  the  donation  of  a  Pub- 
lic Library  to  the  City  of  Baltimore,  having  given 
the  matter  a  careful  consideration,  report  favorably 
thereon,  and  ask  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  as 

annexed. 

Skipwith  Wilmer, 

Wm.  E.  B RODERICK, 

D.  Caldwell  Ireland, 

First  Branch. 
D.  GiRAUD  Wright, 
H.  G.  Fledderman, 
M.  E.  Mooney, 

Second  Branch. 


10 


Resolved  by  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Balti- 
more that,  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  Baltimore,  they 
do  gratefully  accept  the  munificent  gift  of  Mr.  Enoch 
Pratt  of  the  sum  of  $1,058,000,  offered  by  him  for 
the  establishment  of  a  Free  Public  Library. 

That  Mr.  Pratt  be  requested  to  have  the  Trustees 
whom  he  proposes  to  appoint,  organize  under  the 
name  of  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore 
City,"  so  that  his  name  may  be  inseparably  associated 
with  the  Institution  which  he  has  founded,  and  the  City 
which  will  owe  so  much  to  his  wise  generosity. 

That  the  law  officers  of  the  City  be  requested  to 
ascertain  what  legislation  is  required  to  enable  the 
City  to  accept  the  trust  upon  the  terms  proposed  by 
Mr.  Pratt,  and  to  report  the  same  to  the  City  Council, 
with  a  draft  of  the  necessary  acts  or  ordinances,  at  as 
early  a  day  as  possible. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Wilmer,  the  resolution  was  read 
a  second  time,  by  special  order,  and  adopted. 


Mayor's  Office,  City  Hall, 

Baltimore,  February  14,  1882. 
To  the  Honorable  the  Members  of  the 

First  Branch  of  the  City  Co7mcil, 
Gentlemen  : 

In  obedience  to  the  terms  of  the  resolution  of  the 
Mayor  and  City  Council,  approved  F'ebruary  2,1882, 


11 


I  transmit  to  you  a  communication  from  the  City 
Counsellor  and  the  City  Solicitor,  covering  a  bill  for 
presentation  to  the  Legislature  "  to  enable  the  Mayor 
and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  to  accept  a  donation 
from  Enoch  Pratt  for  the  establishment  and  perpetual 
endowment  of 'a  Free  Public  Library  in  said  City,  to 
be  kfiOwn  as  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Bal- 
timore City,"  etc.,  etc. 

As  will  be  observed,  the  names  of  the  Trustees  are 
not  inserted,  but  are  to  be  presented  by  Mr.  Pratt 
when  the  bill  is  introduced  into  the  Legislature. 
Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Wm.  Pinkney  Whyte, 

Afayor. 


Law  Department,  City  Hall, 

Baltimore,  February  ii,  1882. 
Hon.  W.  Pinkney  Whyte, 

Mayor  of  Baltimore  City, 
Dear  Sir: 

In  accordance  with  the  joint  resolution  of  the 
Mayor  and  City  Council,  approved  February  2d, 
instructing  the  law  officers  of  the  City  to  draft  the 
necessary  measures  of  legislation  to  enable  the  City 
to  accept  the  offer  of  Mr.  Enoch  Pratt  to  found  and 
endow  a  Free  Public  Library  in  this  City,  we  beg 


12 


leave  to  submit  the  accompanying  draft  of  an  en- 
abling act,  to  be  passed  by  the  Legislature,  such  as 
in  our  judgment  would  be  required  to  enable  the 
City  to  avail  itself  of  Mr.  Pratt's  offer  upon  the  terms 
proposed  by  him.  While  the  draft  of  a  bill  submitted 
herewith  will  be  found,  we  think,  sufficient  for  this 
purpose,  we  are  also  assured  that  its  provisions 
accord  with  the  views  and  wishes  of  Mr.  Pratt. 

The  blank  left  in  the  second  section  for  the  names 
of  the  Trustees  (to  be  nominated  by  Mr.  Pratt)  is 
designed  to  be  filled  after  the  bill  has  been  intro- 
duced into  the  Legislature.  As  the  passage  of  the 
enabling  act  and  the  incorporation  of  the  Trustees 
should  properly  precede  the  passage  of  the  ordi- 
nance, the  terms  of  which  will  necessarily  have  to 
conform  to  those  of  the  act  as  passed  by  the  Legis- 
lature, no  draft  of  an  ordinance  is  at  present  sub- 
mitted. 

Very  respectfully, 

James  L.  McLane, 

City  Counsellor. 

Thomas  W.  Hall, 

City  Solicitor. 


ENABLING  ACT  PASSED  BY  THE  GENERAL 
ASSEMBLY  OF  MARYLAND, 

January  Session,  1882,  Chapter  181. 


An  Act  to  enabl^  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore 
to  accept  a  donation  from  Enoch  Pratt  for  the  estab- 
lishment and  perpetual  endowment  of  a  Free  Public 
Library  in  said  City,  to  be  known  as  "  The  Enoch  Pratt 
Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  and  to  provide  for  the 
appointment  and  incorporation  of  Trustees  for  the  man- 
agement thereof. 

Whereas,  Enoch  Pratt,  of  the  City  of  Baltimore,  has, 
with  signal  generosity,  public  spirit  and  philanthropy, 
offered  to  establish  an  institution  to  be  known  as 
"  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City," 
and  for  that  purpose  has  agreed  to  erect  upon  a  lot  on 
Mulberry  street  in  said  City,  owned  by  him,  a  Library 
building,  to  cost  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars,  or  thereabout,  and  to  convey 
the  said  lot  and  building  when  completed  to  the 
Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore ;  and  also  to 
pay  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty- 
three  cents  to  the  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
Baltimore,  provided  the  said  Mayor  and  City  Council 
will  accept  said  conveyance  and  said  sum  of  money, 
and  agree  by  an  ordinance  to  grant  and  create  an 
annuity  and  to  pay  annually  to  a  Board  of  nine  Trus- 


14 

tees  and  their  successors  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars  perpetually  hereafter  forever,  in  equal  quarter- 
yearly  payments,  for  the  purchase  and  maintenance 
of  the  said  Library,  with  not  less  than  four  branches 
in  different  parts  of  the  City,  said  branches  to  be 
established  by  said  Trustees  within  such  time  as  can 
be  reasonably  accomplished  out  of  said  quarterly  pay- 
ments, the  title  to  said  Library,  its  branches,  books,  and 
all  other  property,  to  be  vested  in  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore,  the  control  and  management  of 
the  said  Library  and  other  property  to  be  in  said 
Board  of  Trustees : 

And  whereas,  the  plan  thus  proposed  offers  the 
means  of  perpetually  promoting  and  diffusing  knowl- 
edge and  education  among  the  people  of  the  City  of 
Baltimore,  and  it  is  therefore  proper  that  full  power 
should  be  conferred  on  the  corporation  of  the  Mayor 
and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  to  avail  itself  thereof 
for  the  purposes  aforesaid  ;  therefore  : 

Section  i.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  Maryland  that  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
Baltimore  be  and  they  are  hereby  authorized  and 
empowered  to  accept  the  said  proposal  of  the  said 
Enoch  Pratt  as  set  forth  in  the  preamble  to  this  act ; 
and  full  power  and  authority. are  hereby  given  to  said 
Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore,  upon  the  con- 
veyance of  said  lot  of  ground  and  the  improvements 
aforesaid,  and  upon  the  payment  to  said  Mayor  and 


15 

City  Council  by  the  said  Enoch  Pratt  of  said  sum  of 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents,  to 
contract  and  agree  by  ordinance,  to  be  approved  by 
the  legal  voters  of  said  City  as  hereinafter  provided, 
to  pay  perpetually  forever  to  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore 
City,"  as  hereinafter  provided  for,  the  sum  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars  per  annum  in  equal  quarterly  pay- 
ments forever. 

Section  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted  that  Enoch 
Pratt,  George  Wm.  Brown,  Nathaniel  H.  Morison, 
Henry  Janes,  Charles  J.  Bonaparte,  George  B.  Cole, 
Edward  Stabler,  Jr.,  James  A.  Gary,  John  W.  McCoy, 
and  their  successors,  be  and  they  are  hereby  consti- 
tuted and  appointed  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  "  The 
Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City";  and 
they  and  their  successors  are  hereby  constituted  and 
appointed  a  body  politic  and  corporate  by  the  name 
of  "The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore 
City,"  with  power,  and  are  required  to  fill  any  vacan- 
cies in  said  Board  occurring  by  resignation,  disability 
or  otherwise,  and  to  perpetuate  their  succession,  and 
to  do  all  necessary  things  for  the  control  and  manage- 
ment of  said  Library  and  its  branches,  and  to  perform 
the  duties  imposed  on  them  by  this  act,  and  to  receive 
from  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  said 
sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  per  annum  as  afore- 


16 

said,  and  expend  die  same  for  die  purposes  of  said 
Library  in  such  manner  as  diey  shall  think  proper, 
and  to  make  all  necessary  by-laws  and  regulations  for 
the  government  and  administration  of  said  trust,  and 
for  the  appointment  of  the  necessary  officers  and 
agents  :  Provided  that  none  but  citizens  of  Maryland, 
actually  residing  in  the  City  of  Baltimore,  shall  be 
appointed  or  elected  as  members  of  said  Board ;  and 
provided,  further,  that  none  of  the  successors  of  said 
Board,  or  any  officer  thereof,  shall  be  appointed  or 
removed  on  polidcal  or  religious  grounds,  and  said 
Board  shall  have  power  to  remove  any  Trustee  who 
shall  fail  for  six  months  to  attend  the  meetings  of  said 
Board.  Said  Trustees  shall  make  an  annual  report  to 
the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Bakimore  of  their 
proceedings,  and  of  the  condition  of  said  Library  and 
its  branches,  with  a  full  account  of  the  moneys 
received  and  expended  by  them. 

Section  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted  and  ordained 
that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Mayor  and  City  Coun- 
cil of  Baltimore  to  appoint  a  Visitor,  who  shall  as  often 
as  once  a  year  examine  the  books  and  accounts  of 
said  Trustees  and  make  a  report  thereof  to  the  Mayor 
and  City  Council  of  Bakimore ;  and  said  Mayor  and 
City  Council  shall,  in  case  of  any  abuse  of  their 
powers  by  said  Trustees  or  their  successors,  have  the 
right  to  resort  to  the  proper  courts  to  enforce  the  per- 
formance of  the  trust  hereby  imposed  on  them. 


17 


Section  4.  And  be  it  enacted  that  the  said  real 
estate  and  personal  property  vested  in  said  Mayor 
and  City  Council  by  virtue  of  this  act,  and  to  become 
so  by  future  purchase  under  the  provisions  thereof, 
and  the  fund  and  franchises  of  "  The  Enoch  Pratt 
Free  Library  oi  Baltimore  City,"  shall  be  exempt 
from  all  State  and  municipal  taxes  forever. 

Section  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  before 
the  ordinance  which  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
Baltimore  are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to 
pass,  for  the  purpose  of  accepting  said  donation  and 
entering  into  said  contract  and  agreement  for  the 
payment  of  said  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  annu- 
ally for  the  maintenance  of  said  Library,  shall  take 
effect,  the  said  ordinance  shall  be  approved  by  a 
majority  of  the  votes  of  the  legal  voters  of  said  City, 
cast  at  the  time  and  places  to  be  appointed  by  said 
ordinance  for  submitting  the  same  to  the  legal  voters 
of  said  City,  as  required  by  Section  7  of  Article  XI 
of  the  Constitution  of  Maryland. 

Section  6.  And  be  it  enacted  that  this  act  shall 
take  effect  from  the  date  of  its  passage. 

Approved  this  thirtieth  day  of  March,  1882. 
William  T.  Hamilton, 

Governor. 
Otis  Keilholtz, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Delegates. 
George  Hawkins  Williams, 

President  of  the  Senate. 


JOINT  RESOLUTIONS, 

Assented  to  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Mary- 
land AT  January  Session,  1882. 


Joint  Resolutions  in  relation  to  the  gift  by  Enoch  Pratt, 
Esquire,  of  the  City  of  Baltimore,  of  over  a  million 
dollars  to  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  for 
the  establishment  of  a  Free  Circulating  Library. 

Whereas,  Enoch  Pratt,  of  Baltimore,  has  recently 
tendered  to  the  Corporation  of  that  City  the  munifi- 
cent gift  of  over  a  million  of  dollars  for  the  establish- 
ment and  perpetuation  of  a  Free  Circulating  Library, 
under  conditions  whose  practical  wisdom  commends 
them  to  universal  approval ;  and, 

Whereas,  neither  the  value  and  importance  of  such 
an  Institution,  nor  the  noble  and  generous  purposes 
of  its  founder,  can  be  measured  even  by  the  splendid 
liberality  of  its  endowment ;  be  it  therefore 

Resolved,  By  the  General  Assembly  of  Maryland, 
that  the  name  of  Enoch  Pratt  be  added  to  the  list  of 
those  public  benefactors  whom  the  people  of  Mary- 
land will  hold  in  perpetual  and  grateful  remembrance  ; 
and  it  is  further 

Resolved,  That,  in  placing  this  acknowledgment 
and  tribute  upon  the  permanent  records  of  the  State, 
it  is  the  desire  and  purpose  of  the  General  Assembly 


19 

not  merely  to  signify  their  appreciation  of  a  great  and 
disinterested  public  service,  but  especially  to  honor  a 
conspicuous  example  of  the  patriotism  and  public 
spirit  which  give  to  wealth  its  largest  dignity  and  lift 
it  to  its  highest  uses.     Be  it  further 

Resolved,  Thatt  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  signed 
by  the ,  President  of  the  Senate  and  the  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Delegates,  be  transmitted  to  Mr.  Pratt, 
in  further  token  of  respect. 

Otis  Keilholtz, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Delegates. 
George  Hawkins  Williams, 

President  of  the  Senate. 


SUBSEQUENT  ACTION  OF  THE  CITY  COUNCIL 
OF  BAL  T I  MO  RE, 


Ordinance  No.  io6  of  1882. 

An  Ordinance  accepting,  on  the  part  of  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore,  the  lot  of  ground,  and  improve- 
ments thereon,  situate  on  Mulberry  street,  in  the  City 
of  Baltimore,  of  the  estimated  value  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  of  the  sum  of  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and 
thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents,  from  Enoch 
Pratt,  of  the  City  of  Baltimore,  and  contracting  and 
agreeing  on  the  part  of  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
the  City  of  Baltimore  with  said  Enoch  Pratt  for  the 
payment  of  an  annuity  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  payable 
in  equal  quarterly  payments,  by  said  Mayor  and  City 
Council  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  "  The  Enoch  Pratt 
Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  a  corporation  incor- 
porated by  the  General  Assembly  of  Maryland,  and  to 
provide  for  the  submission  of  this  ordinance  to  the  legal 
voters  of  Baltimore  City,  as  required  by  said  act  and  by 
Section  7  of  Article  XI  of  the  Constitution  of  Maryland. 

Whereas,  Enoch  Pratt,  of  the  City  of  Baltimore,  has 
agreed  to  establish  a  Free  Public  Library  in  the  City 
of  Baltimore,  to  be  known  as  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  and  has  agreed  to  erect 
upon  a  lot  of  ground  on  Mulberry  street,  owned  by 
him,  a  Library  Building  of  the  estimated  cost  of  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  or  there- 


21 

about,  and  has  agreed  to  convey  said  lot  and  prem- 
ises to  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore,  and 
also  to  pay  unto  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  the  sum 
of  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents,  pro- 
vided the  said  IV^ayor  and  City  Council  will  accept  said 
conveyance  and  said  sum  of  money,  and  agree  by  ordi- 
nance to  grant  and  create  an  annuity,  and  to  pay 
annually  to  a  Board  of  Trustees,  and  their  successors, 
the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  perpetually  hereafter, 
forever,  in  equal  quarterly  payments,  for  the  purchase 
and  maintenance  of  said  Library,  with  not  less  than  four 
branches  in  different  parts  of  the  City,  the'  said 
branches  to  be  established  by  said  Trustees  within 
such  time  as  can  be  reasonably  accomplished  out  of 
said  quarterly  payments;  the  title  to  said  Library, 
its  branches,  books,  and  all  other  property,  to  be 
vested  in  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore, 
the  control  and  management  of  said  Library  and 
property  to  be  in  said  Board  of  Trustees. 

Aitd  whereas,  the  General  Assembly  of  Mary- 
land, by  an  act  passed  at  its  January  session,  eighteen 
hundred  and  eighty-two,  chapter  one  hundred  and 
eighty-one,  authorized  and  empowered  the  said  Mayor 
and  City  Council  to  accept  the  said  proposal  of  the 
said  Enoch  Pratt,  and  granted  full  power  and  author- 
ity unto  the  said  Mayor  and  City  Council,  upon  the 
conveyance  of  said  lot,  and  the  improvements  afore- 


22 

said,  and  upon  said  payment  of  said  sum  of  money  to 
it,  by  the  said  Enoch  Pratt,  to  contract  and  agree  by 
ordinance,  to  be  approved  by  the  legal  voters  of  said 
City  as  hereinafter  provided,  to  pay  perpetually  to 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  "The  Enoch  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  City"  the  annual  sum  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars  in  equal  quarterly  payments  forever. 
And  zvhereas,  said  "Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of 
Baltimore  City  "  has  been  duly  incorporated  by  said 
act  of  said  General  Assembly  of  Maryland,  and  said 
Enoch  Pratt  is  desirous  to  make  the  conveyance 
aforesaid,  and  to  pay  unto  said  Mayor  and  City 
Council  the  said  sum  of  eight  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars 
and  thirty-three  cents ;  therefore. 

Section  i.  Be  it  enacted  and  ordained  by  the 
Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore,  in  pursuance 
of  the  power  and  authority  vested  in  it  by  said  act  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  Maryland,  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  perpetually  promoting  and  diffusing  knowl- 
edge and  education  among  the  people  of  the  City  of 
Baltimore,  that  the  said  proposed  conveyance  of  the 
said  Library  Building  and  premises,  situate  upon 
Mulberry  street,  as  aforesaid,  and  the  said  proposed 
payment  of  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand 
three  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three 
cents,  be  and  they  are  hereby  agreed  to  be  accepted 
by  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore.    And, 


23 

for  the  purpose  of  carrying  Into  effect  the  said 
proposed  object,  the  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
Baltimore  by  this  ordinance  doth  hereby  contract  and 
agree  with  the  said  Enoch  Pratt,  and  with  the  said 
"  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  the 
body  corporate  aforesaid,  in  consideration  of  said 
conveyance  of  said  Library  building  and  premises, 
and  of  the  payment  of  said  sum  of  money  unto  it,  to 
grant  and  create  an  annuity  of  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
to  be  paid  perpetually  hereafter,  forever,  in  equal 
quarterly  payments,  for  the  purposes  and  maintenance 
of  said  Library,  said  annuity  to  be  paid  unto  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  said  body  corporate  and  their 
successors  forever,  to  be  applied  by  them  to  the  pur- 
poses and  maintenance  of  said  Library  as  established 
and  defined  in  the  act  of  incorporation  thereof 

Section  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted  and  ordained 
that,  upon  the  conveyance  by  said  Enoch  Pratt,  or  his 
representatives,  by  a  valid  deed,  of  the  clear,  unen- 
cumbered fee-simple  estate  in  said  lot  of  ground, 
with  the  improvements  thereon,  situate  on  Mulberry 
street,  in  said  City  of  Baltimore,  unto  the  said  Mayor 
and  City  Council,  and  upon  the  payment  by  said 
Enoch  Pratt,  or  his  representatives,  unto  said  Mayor 
and  City  Council  of  said  sum  of  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three 
dollars  and  thirty-three  cents,  the  Mayor  of  the 
City  of  Baltimore  at  the  time  of  the  execution  of 


24 

said  deed  is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered 
to  join  in  the  execution  of  the  same  for  and  o'n 
behalf  of  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore, 
-and  to  contract,  covenant  and  agree  for,  and  on  their 
Ibehalf  to  pay  perpetually  thereafter,  the  yearly  sum 
«of  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  equal  quarterly  payments 
,unto  the  Trustees  of  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library 
..of  Baltimore  City  "  and  their  successors  forever ;  the 
:said  "  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City  " 
.also  joining  in  said  deed,  and  agreeing  to  appropriate 
.said  sum  for  its  corporate  purposes,  and  to  make  an 
annual  report  to  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Bal- 
timore of  the  proceedings  of  said  body  corporate, 
.and  of  the  condition  of  said  Library  and  its  branches, 
.with  a  full  account  of  the  moneys  received  and 
■expended  by  said  Trustees, 

Section  3.  Be  it  further  enacted  and  ordained 
that  this  ordinance  shall  be  submitted  to  the  legal 
voters  of  the  City  of  Baltimore  for  their  approval  or 
disapproval,  at  the  election  to  be  held  on  the  fourth 
Wednesday  in  October,  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty- 
two,  at  which  election  each  voter  who  may  approve 
the  adoption  of  this  ordinance  shall  deposit  a  ticket 
or  ballot  in  the  separate  box  hereinafter  provided  for, 
on  which  ticket  or  ballot  shall  be  written  or  printed 
.the  words,  "  For  the  ordinance  of  the  Mayor  and  City 
^Council  of  Baltimore  creating  an  annuity  for  the 
establishment  of  '  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of 


25 

Baltimore  City';  and  each  voter  who  may  disapprove 
of  this  ordinance  shall  deposit  a  ballot  or  ticket  on 
which  shall  be  written  or  printed  the  words,  "Against 
the  ordinance  of  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
Baltimore  creating  an  annuity  for  the  establishment 
of  '  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore 
City.'-" 

Section  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted  and  ordained 
that,  immediately  after  the  closing  of  the  polls,  the 
judges  of  election  of  the  several  precincts  shall  count 
the  ballots  deposited  at  said  election,  and  shall  make 
return  to  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore 
of  the  number  of  votes  cast  "  for  the  ordinance  of 
the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  creating  an 
annuity  for  the  establishment  of '  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  City'  "  and  the  number  of  votes 
cast  "  against  the  ordinance  of  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore  creating  an  annuity  for  the 
establishment  of  'The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of 
Baltimore  City ' "  ;  and  if  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast 
at  said  election  shall  be  in  favor  of  this  ordinance,  the 
said  Mayor  shall  certify  the  fact  to  the  President  of 
each  branch  of  the  City  Council,  and  sections  one  and 
two  of  this  ordinance  shall  take  effect  on  and  from 
the  date  of  said  certificate. 

Section  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted  and  ordained 
that  a  copy  of  this  ordinance,  and  notice  of  the  day 
of  holding   such  election,  shall  be   published  in   at 


26 

least  four  of  the  daily  newspapers  of  the  City  of  Balti- 
more twice  a  week  for  two  weeks  preceding"  said 
election. 

Section  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted  and  ordained 
that  the  City  Comptroller  be  and  he  is  hereby 
authorized  and  directed  to  have  suitable  ballot-boxes 
prepared  and  furnished  to  the  judges  of  election  at 
the  designated  places  of  voting  in  the  precincts  of  the 
City  of  Baltimore,  for  the  reception  of  the  tickets 
cast  for  or  against  this  ordinance ;  and  he  is  further 
authorized  and  directed  to  have  tickets  of  the  descrip- 
tion mentioned  above  printed  and  placed  at  all  the 
polls  of  the  said  city  on  the  day  of  said  election ;  and 
that  the  City  Register  be  and  he  is  hereby  author- 
ized and  directed  to  pay  the  expense  of  the  prepara- 
tion of  said  ballot-boxes,  and  of  the  printing  of  said 
tickets,  and  the  publication  of  said  notice,  and  other 
expenses  therewith  connected,  out  of  any  money  in 
the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated. 

Ordinance  examined  by  the  Committee  on  Enroll- 
ment and  found  correct. 

Attested  by  W.  Starr  Gephart, 

D,  G.  Wright, 
J.  B.  Wentz. 

I.  Parker  Veazey, 

President  of  First  Branch, 
Alvin  Robertson, 

President  of  Second  Branch. 


27 

Was  presented  to  the  Mayor,  June  22,  1882,  and 

on  July  15,  1882,  endorsed 

Approved,     Wm.  Pinkney  Whvte, 

Mayor. 
John  A.  Robb, 

Register. 


NOTICE  OF  ELECTION. 


Notice  is  hereby  given  to  the  legal  voters  of  the 
City  of  Baltimore,  that  an  election  will  be  held  in  the 
several  precincts  of  the  City  on  the  fourth  Wednes- 
day of  October,  1882  (being  the  twenty-fifth  day  of 
the  month),  for  the  approval  or  disapproval  of  the 
following  ordinance,  passed  by  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore — viz. : 

"  An  ordinance  accepting,  on  the  part  of  the  Mayor 
and  City  Council  of  Baltimore,  the  lot  of  ground  and 
improvements  thereon  situate  on  Mulberry  street,  in 
the  City  of  Baltimore,  of  the  estimated  value  of  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  and  of  the 
sum  of  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  three 
hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents, 
from  Enoch  Pratt,  of  the  City  of  Baltimore,  and  con- 
tracting and  agreeing  on  the  part  of  said  Mayor  and 
City  Council  of  the  City  of  Baltimore,  with  said 
Enoch  Pratt,  for  the  payment  of  an  annuity  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  payable  in  equal  quarterly  payments 
by  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  'The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Balti- 
more City,'  a  corporation  incorporated  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  Maryland,  and  to  provide  for  the  sub- 
mission of  this  ordinance  to  the  legal  voters  of 
Baltimore  Cit}',  as  required  by  said  act,  and  by 
Section  7  of  Article  XI  of  the  Constitution  of 
Maryland." 


29 


The  polls  will  be  opened  at  6  o'clock  A.  INT.,  and 
closed  at  6  o'clock  P.  M. 

John  F.  Hunter, 

Sheriff  of  Baltimore  City. 

Mayor's  Office,  City  Hall, 

Baltimore,  November  6,  1882. 
To  the  President  of  the  First  Branch  City  Council, 
Sir : — In  pursuance  of  the  4th  Section  of  an  ordi- 
nance accepting,  on  the  part  of  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore,  the  lot  of  ground  and  improve- 
ments on  Mulberry  street  from  Enoch  Pratt,  Esq.,  etc., 
etc.,  I  hereby  certify  that  I  have  received  the  returns  of 
the  judges  of  election  of  the  number  of  votes  cast  for 
said  ordinance,  and  the  number  of  votes  cast  against 
it,  and  I  further  certify  that  a  majority  of  the  votes 
have  been  cast  in  favor  of  the  ordinance. 

The  returns  of  said  vote  are  herewith  transmitted  to 
the  First  Branch  of  the  City  Council. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

Wm.  Pinkney  Whyte, 

Mayor. 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  aforegoing  is  a  true  copy 
of  a  letter  received  by  the  First  Branch  City  Council 
on  November  6th,  A.  D.  1882. 

A.  V.  Milholland, 

Chief  Clerk. 


FURTHER  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  CITY 
COUNCIL. 

April  23,  1883. 

The  following  communication  was  transmitted  by 
the  Mayor  to  the  City  Council,  covering  a  copy  of 
an  ordinance  entitled  "  An  ordinance  authorizing  the 
investment  in  Baltimore  City  stock  of  the  money  pro- 
posed to  be  paid  by  Enoch  Pratt  for  the  purpose 
of  establishing '  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Balti- 
more City,'  according  to  the  terms  and  provisions  of 
Ordinance  No.  106,  approved  July  15,  1882,"  which 
was  read  and  referred  to  the  Joint  Standing  Com- 
mittee on  Ways  and  Means. 

Mayor's  Office,  City  Hall, 

Baltimore,  April  23,  1883. 
To  the  Honorable  the  Members  of  the 

First  and  Second  Branches  of  the  City  Council^ 
Gentlemen  : 

I  have  been  led  to  believe  that  during  the  summer, 
while  the  City  Council  may  be  in  recess,  Enoch  Pratt, 
Esq.,  will  be  ready  to  convey  to  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  the  lot  and  improvements  on  Mulberry  street 
known  as  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library,"  and  also 
to  pay  to  the  City  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three 
dollars  and  thirty-three  cents  (^833,333.33),  i"  accord- 
ance with  the  terms  of  Ordinance  No.  106,  approved 
July  15,  1882. 


31 

In  view  of  the  obligation  of  the  City  under  that 
ordinance  to  pay  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Library 
the  annuity  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  quarterly  pay- 
ments, it  is  highly  desirable  that  the  large  sum  pro- 
posed to  be  paid  by  Mr.  Pratt  shall  be  made  to  bear 
interest  as  soon  after  its  payment  as  practicable,  so  as 
to  provide  for  the  extinguishment,  at  the  earliest  pos- 
sible day,  of  this  annual  charge ;  and  inasmuch  as 
authority  already  exists,  by  ordinances  heretofore 
passed,  to  issue  for  various  corporate  purposes 
new  city  stock  to  an  amount  approaching  one  million 
dollars,  It  seems  to  me  that  It  will  be  best  to  invest 
the  money  to  be  paid  by  Mr.  Pratt  in  these  new  loans 
at  par,  for  the  purpose  of  a  special  sinking  fund. 
Such  an  Investment,  at  four  per  cent.,  will  yield  the 
annual  sum  of  thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred 
and  thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-two  cents,  and  by 
the  investment  of  the  interest  also  from  time  to  time, 
as  It  matures,  there  will  be  realized  in  a  few  years  an 
annual  income  equal  to  the  annuity  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars  which  the  City  has  engaged  to  pay  to  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Library.  When  this  point  is  reached, 
there  will  no  longer  be  any  occasion  to  continue  the 
raising  of  the  annuity  by  taxation,  and  the  tax  levied 
for  this  purpose  can  then  be  discontinued. 

It  is  true  that  this  plan  contemplates  the  levy  of  a 
tax  to  realize  annually  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars for  the  near  future,  and  then  an  abandonment  of 


32 

that  tax  when  the  fund  itself  will  earn  a  sum  equal  to 
the  annuity.  It  may  be  suggested  by  others  that  the 
fund  paid  by  Mr.  Pratt  should  be  invested  to  realize 
the  thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  dollars  and  thirty-two  cents  annually,  and  that 
the  remaining  sum  of  sixteen  thousand  six  hundred 
and  sixty-six  dollars  and  sixty-eight  cents  should  be 
levied  perpetually  as  a  tax,  but  I  cannot  believe  this 
will  be  as  satisfactory  to  the  people  as  the  plan  I  have 
here  proposed. 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  views  here  presented,  I 
submit  to  you  herewith  the  draft  of  an  ordinance  pre- 
pared at  my  request  by  the  City  Counsellor,  which  I 
respectfully  recommend  to  you  for  passage  before 
your  adjournment  for  the  summer  recess. 
I  am  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
Wm.  Pinkney  Whyte, 

Mayor. 

Mr.  Ford,  from  the  Joint  Standing  Committee  on 
Ways  and  Means,  submitted  the  following  report 
and  accompanying  ordinance,  which  was  read: 

The  Joint  Standing  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means, 
to  whom  was  referred  an  ordinance  relating  to  "  The 
Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library"  fund,  having  given  the 
subject  the   consideration  it  deserves,  beg  leave   to 


33 

report  favorably  thereon,  and  ask  the  passage  of  the 
following  ordinance. 

John  T.  Ford, 
Edwd.  Landstreet, 
John  J.  Mahon, 
•■  First  Branch. 

D.  G.  Wright, 
H.  G.  Fledderman, 

Second  Braiich. 


Ordinance  No.  64,  Approved  May  14,  1883. 

An  Ordinance  authorizing  the  investment  in  Baltimore  City 
stock  of  the  money  proposed  to  be  paid  by  Enoch  Pratt 
for  the  purpose  of  estabHshing  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  according  to  the  terms  and 
provisions  of  Ordinance  No.  106,  approved  July  15,  1882. 

Section  i.  Be  it  enacted  and  ordained  by  the 
Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  that,  so  soon 
as  Enoch  Pratt  shall  pay  to  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three 
dollars  and  thirty-three  cents,  according  to  the  terms 
and  provisions  of  Ordinance  No.  106,  approved  July 
15th,  1882,  itshallbe  the  duty  of  the  Commissioners 
of  Finance  to  invest  the  same  in  Baltimore  City  stock 
heretofore  authorized  to  be  issued  at  par,  as  a  sink- 


34 

ing  fund  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  "  The  Enoch 
Pratt  Free  Library  Sinking  Fund." 

Section  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted  and  or- 
dained that  the  interest  upon  said  investment  so 
as  aforesaid  directed  to  be  made  shall  also  be  invested 
from  time  to  time,  as  the  same  shall  be  received,  in 
the  public  debt  of  the  City  of  Baltimore,  and  such 
investments  of  said  interest,  and  of  the  interest  upon 
said  interest,  shall  also  constitute  a  part  of  said  sink- 
ing fund,  and  that  said  investment  of  said  interest, 
and  of  interest  on  said  interest,  shall  continue  so  to 
be  made  in  the  public  debt  of  the  City  of  Baltimore 
until  the  annual  income  from  said  investments  shall 
reach  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars ;  and  in  the 
meanwhile  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  to  pay 
said  annuity,  shall  be  levied  for  as  other  City  taxes  are 
levied  for. 

Section  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted  and  or- 
dained that,  when  the  said  annual  income  upon  the 
investments  in  said  sinking  fund  shall  reach  the  sum 
of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  the  making  of  said  invest- 
ments for  said  purpose  shall  cease,  and  the  said 
annual  income  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  arising  there- 
from shall  be  thereafter  appropriated  and  applied  to 
the  payment  of  the  annuity  of  fifty  thousand  dollars 
to  the  Trustees  of  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of 
Baltimore  City,"  and  all  taxation  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  said  annuity  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  such 
purpose  shall  cease  and  be  discontinued. 


35 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Ford,  the  ordinance  was  read  a 
second  time,  by  special  order,  the  title  approved,  and 
the  same  declared  passed. 

This  ordinance  was  also  passed  by  the  Second 
Branch,  April  24,  and  approved  by  the  Mayor,  May 
14,  1883. 


DEED    FROM  ENOCH  PRATT  AND     WIFE    TO 

THE  MAYOR  AND  CITY  COUNCIL 

OF  BAL  TIMORE. 


This  Indenture,  made  this  second  (2d)  day  of 
July  (A.  D.  1883),  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-three, 
between  Enoch  Pratt,  of  the  City  of  Baltimore  and 
State  of  Maryland,  and  Maria  Louisa  Pratt,  his  wife, 
of  the  first  part, "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Bal- 
timore City  "  (a  corporation  duly  incorporated  by  act 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  Maryland,  as  hereinafter 
mentioned)  of  the  second  part,  and  the  Mayor  and 
City  Council  of  Baltimore,  a  body  politic  and  cor- 
porate, of  the  third  part : 

Witnesseth^  That  whereas,  by  an  act  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  Maryland  passed  at  the  January 
session,  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-two  (1882), 
chapter  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  (181),  entitled 
"  An  act  to  enable  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
Baltimore  to  accept  a  donation  from  Enoch  Pratt  for 
the  establishment  and  perpetual  endowment  of  a  Free 
Public  Library  in  said  City,  to  be  known  as  '  The 
Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City,'  and  to 
provide  for  the  appointment  and  incorporation  of 
Trustees  for  the  management  thereof,"  the  Mayor  and 
City  Council  of  Baltimore  were  authorized  and 
empowered  to  accept  the  proposal  of  said  Enoch  Pratt 
as  set  forth  in  the  preamble  to  said  act. 


37 

And  whereas,  by  said  act,  full  power  and  authority 
were  given  to  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Balti- 
more, upon  the  conveyance  of  the  lot  of  ground  on 
Mulberry  street,  in  Baltimore  City,  and  the  improve- 
ments thereon,  then  about  to  be  erected  by  said  Enoch 
Pratt,  and  upon  tfie  payment  to  said  Mayor  and  City 
Council  by  said  Enoch  Pratt  of  the  sum  of  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and 
thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents,  to  contract 
and  agree  by  ordinance,  to  be  approved  by  the  legal 
voters  of  said  City,  to  pay  perpetually  and  forever  to 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  City  "  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand 
dollars  ($50,000)  per  annum  in  equal  quarterly  pay- 
ments. 

And  whereas,  in  and  by  said  act  of  Assembly,  "The 
Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City "  was 
duly  created  a  body  politic  and  corporate. 

And  whereas,  by  an  ordinance  of  said  Mayor  and 
City  Council  passed  on  the  first  day  of  May  (1882), 
eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-two,  in  pursuance  of 
the  power  and  authority  by  said  act  of  Assembly 
conferred  on  said  Mayor  and  City  Council,  it  was 
enacted  and  ordained  that  the  said  proposed  convey- 
ance of  the  said  Library  building  and  premises,  situ- 
ate on  Mulberry  street  as  aforesaid,  and  the  said  pro- 
posed payment  of  ($833,333.33)  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-three 


38 

dollars  and  thirty-three  cents,  be  and  they  were 
thereby  agreed  to  be  accepted,  and  said  Mayor  and 
City  Council  did  thereby  contract  and  agree  with  the 
said  Enoch  Pratt  and  with  the  said  "  Enoch  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  a  body  corporate  as  afore- 
said, in  consideration  of  said  conveyance  of  said 
Library  building  and  premises,  and  of  the  payment 
of  said  sum  of  money  unto  it,  to  grant  and  create  an 
annuity  of  fifty  thousand  ($50,000)  dollars,  to  be  paid 
perpetually  thereafter  forever,  in  equal  quarterly  pay- 
ments, for  the  purposes  and  maintenance  of  said 
Library;  said  annuity  to  be  paid  unto  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  said  body  corporate  and  their  successors 
forever,  to  be  applied  by  them  to  the  purposes  and 
maintenance  of  said  Library  as  established  and  defined 
by  and  in  the  Act  of  Incorporation  thereof. 

And  whereas,  it  was  in  said  ordinance  further 
enacted  and  ordained  that  upon  the  conveyance  by 
said  Enoch  Pratt,  by  a  valid  deed,  of  the  clear,  unen- 
cumbered fee-simple  estate  in  said  lot  of  ground,  with 
the  improvements  thereon,  unto  the  said  Mayor  and 
City  Council,  and  upon  payment  by  said  Enoch  Pratt 
unto  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  said  sum  of 
(^^33)333-33)  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  and 
thirty-three  cents,  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Baltimore 
at  the  time  of  the  execution  of  the  deed  was  thereby 
authorized  and  empowered  to  join  in  the  execution  of 


39 

the  same  for  and  on  behalf  of  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore,  and  to  contract,  covenant  and 
agree  for  and  on  their  behalf  to  pay  perpetually  there- 
after the  yearly  sum  of  fifty  thousand  ($50,000)  dol- 
lars, in  equal  quarterly  payments,  unto  the  Trustees 
of  "  The  Enoch  Pra'tt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City," 
and  their  successors,  forever;  the  said  "Enoch  Pratt 
Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City  "  also  joining  in  said 
deed,  and  agreeing  to  appropriate  said  sum  for  its 
corporate  purposes,  and  to  make  an  annual  report  to 
the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  said  body  corporate,  and  of  the  condition 
of  said  Library  and  its  branches,  with  a  full  account 
of  the  moneys  received  and  expended  by  said  Trustees. 

And  whereas^  as  was  further  directed  by  said  act 
of  Assembly  and  said  ordinance,  the  same  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  legal  voters  of  Baltimore  City,  for 
approval  or  disapproval,  at  the  election  held  on  the 
fourth  Wednesday  in  October  in  the  year  (1882) 
eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-two,  and  the  said  ordi- 
nance at  said  election  was,  by  said  legal  voters,  duly 
approved. 

And  whereas,  the  said  Enoch  Pratt  has  completed 
the  Library  building  on  said  lot  of  ground  (the  same 
with  its  improvements  being  valued  at  the  sum  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars),  and  at  and 
before  the  execution  of  this  deed  has  paid  to  the 
Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  the  said  sum 


40 

of  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents, 
the  receipt  of  which  is  hereby  acknowledged,  making 
an  aggregate  amount  in  money  and  property  so 
received  from  said  Enoch  Pratt  of  ($1,083,333.33)  one 
million  and  eighty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and 
thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents. 

Now^  therefore^  this  indenture  witnesseth  that,  for 
and  in  consideration  of  the  premises,  and  of  the  sum 
of  five  dollars  paid  by  the  said  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore  to  the  said  Enoch  Pratt  and 
Maria  Louisa  Pratt,  his  wife,  the  receipt  of  which  is 
hereby  acknowledged,  they,  the  said  Enoch  Pratt  and 
Maria  Louisa  Pratt,  his  wife,  do  hereby  grant  and 
convey  unto  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Balti- 
more, its  successors  and  assigns,  all  that  lot  or  parcel 
of  ground  situate  in  said  Cityof  Baltimore  which,  in  the 
deed  thereof  from  Charles  Morton  Stewart  and  Charles 
Oliver  O'Donnell,  trustees,  etc.,  to  said  Enoch  Pratt, 
bearing  date  on  the  twentieth  day  of  August,  A.  D. 
(1872)  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two,  and  recorded 
among  the  land  records  of  said  City  in  Liber  G.  R.,  No. 
577,  folio  466,  etc.,  is  thus  described,  to  wit:  Beginning 
for  the  same  on  the  line  of  the  north  side  of  Mulberry 
street,  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet 
and  eleven  inches  easterly  from  the  northeast  corner 
or  intersection  of  Mulberry  and  Park  streets,  and  then 
running  thence  easterly,  bounding  on  Mulberry  street 


41 

eighty  feet  and  seven  inches  more  or  less,  to  a  point 
distant  one  hundred  and  eight  feet  west  from  the 
west  side  of  Cathedral  street,  thence  northerly  paral- 
lel to  Park  street  one  hundred  and  forty  feet,  to  an 
alley  twenty  feet  wide,  called  N  Alley,  thence  west- 
erly, bounding  on  south  side  of  N  Alley  eighty  feet  and 
seven  inches  more  or  less,  to  intersect  a  line  drawn 
from  the  place  of  beginning  northerly,  parallel  to 
Park  street,  and  thence  southerly,  reversing  the  line 
so  drawn  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  to  the  place  of 
beginning. 

Together  with  the  buildings  and  improvements 
thereon,  and  the  rights,  privileges,  easements,  advan- 
tages and  appurtenances  thereunto  belonging  or 
appertaining. 

To  have  and  to  hold  the  property,  lot  of  ground 
and  premises  above-described,  with  the  buildings  and 
improvements  thereon,  and  all  the  rights,  privileges, 
easements,  advantages  and  appurtenances  thereunto 
belonging  or  in  anywise  appertaining  as  aforesaid, 
unto  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore,  its 
successors  and  assigns,  in  fee-simple  forever ;  in  trust, 
nevertheless,  for  the  uses  and  purposes  herein  men- 
tioned and  set  forth. 

And  said  Enoch  Pratt  doth  hereby  covenant  that 
he  will  warrant  specially  the  property  hereby  con- 
veyed, and  that  he  will  execute  such  further  assur- 
ances as  maybe  requisite  for  the  confirmation  of  these 
presents. 


42 

And  this  indenture  further  witnesseth  that,  for  and 
in  consideration  of  the  premises,  and  of  the  said  sum 
of  money  by  said  Enoch  Pratt  paid  and  transferred  to 
the  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore,  and  in 
consideration  of  this  conveyance,  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore  aforesaid,  for  and  on  its  own 
behalf,  and  for  its  successors,  doth  hereby  contract, 
covenant  and  agree  with  the  said  "  Enoch  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  and  its  successors,  to  pay 
yearly  and  every  year  forever  to  "  The  Enoch  Pratt 
Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  and  its  Trustees  and 
their  successors,  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  ($50,000) 
dollars,  in  equal  quarterly  instalments,  accounting 
from  the  first  day  of  July,  A.  D.  (1883)  eighteen 
hundred  and  eighty-three. 

And  this  indenture  further  witnesseth  that,  for  and 
in  consideration  of  the  premises  and  of  the  payment 
of  the  said  annual  sum  agreed  to  be  paid  as  aforesaid, 
"  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  for 
itself  and  its  successors,  doth  hereby  covenant,  con- 
tract and  agree  with  said  Mayor  and  City  Council 
of  Baltimore,  and  its  successors,  to  appropriate  any 
and  all  of  the  annual  sums  by  it  to  be  received  entirely 
and  solely  for  its  corporate  purposes;  and,  further,  that 
the  said  "  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City  " 
will  make  annual  reports  to  the  Mayor  and  City  Council 
of  Baltimore  of  the  proceedings  of  the  said  body  cor- 
porate, and  of  the  condition  of  said  Library  and  its 


43 

branches,  with  a  full  account  of  the  moneys  received 
and  expended  by  said  Trustees. 

And  it  is  further  hereby  provided  that  the  Mayor  and 
City  Council  of  Baltimore  and  "The  Enoch  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  City  "  may  by  joint  deed  sell  and 
convey  the  real  Estate  herein  conveyed,  or  any  real  or 
leasehold  estate  which  may  hereafter  be  vested  in  the 
said  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  for  the  pur- 
poses of  the  trust  by  this  deed  created,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds of  sale  shall  be  paid  to  said  "  Enoch  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  to  be  invested  by  it,  with 
the  approval  of  said  Mayor  and  City  Council,  in  other 
property  for  the  purposes  of  this  trust. 

And  this  indenture  further  witnesseth  that  the 
Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  doth  hereby  con- 
stitute and  appoint  Samuel  Turner  Duvall  to  be  its 
attorney  for  it  and  in  its  name,  and  as  its  act  and  deed 
to  acknowledge  this  indenture,  to  the  intent  that  the 
same  may  be  duly  recorded.  And  "  The  Enoch  Pratt 
Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City  "  doth  hereby  constitute 
and  appoint  Stewart  Brown  to  be  its  attorney  for  it  and 
in  its  name,  and  as  its  act  and  deed  to  acknowledge 
this  indenture,  to  the  intent  that  the  same  may  be  duly 
recorded. 

In  witness  whereof,  the  said  Enoch  Pratt  and  Maria 
Louisa  Pratt,  his  wife,  the  parties  of  the  first  part 
hereto,  have  hereunto  subscribed  their  names  and 
affixed  their  seals  on  the  day  and  year  first  herein 


44 

written ;  and  William  Pinkney  Whyte,  Mayor  of 
Baltimore  City,  has  hereunto  subscribed  his  name  and 
caused  the  corporate  seal  of  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore  to  be  hereunto  affixed ;  and 
Enoch  Pratt,  the  President  of  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  has  hereunto  subscribed 
his  name  and  caused  the  corporate  seal  of  said  cor- 
poration to  be  hereto  affixed  on  said  day  and  year. 

Signed,  sealed  and  delivered  in  the  presence  of 
Joshua  M.  Myers,  John  A.  Robb,  witnesses  as  to  the 
signatures  of  W.  P.  Whyte,  Mayor,  and  Enoch  Pratt, 

President. 

Enoch  Pratt.  [Seal.] 

,  Maria  Louisa  Pratt.       [Seal.] 

Wm.  Pinkney  Whyte,  Mayor. 

Enoch  Pratt, 

Pres't  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore. 


State  of  Maryland,  City  of  Baltimore,  to  wit : 

I  hereby  certify  that  on  this  second  day  of  July, 
A.  D.  (1883)  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty-three, 
before  me,  the  subscriber,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  of 
said  State,  in  and  for  said  City,  personally  appeared 
Enoch  Pratt  and  Maria  Louisa  Pratt,  his  wife,  and 
acknowledged  the  foregoing  deed  to  be  their  respect- 
ive act  and  deed  ;  and  at  the  same  time  also  appeared 
Samuel  Turner  Duvall,  an  attorney  of  the  Mayor  and 


45 

City  Council  of  Baltimore,  constituted  by  a  power  of 
attorney  in  the  within  deed,  and  acknowledged  the 
within  deed  to  be  the  act  and  deed  of  the  Mayor  and 
City  Council  of  Baltimore. 

And  at  the  same  time  also  appeared  Stewart  Brown, 
an  attorney  of"  'Kie  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Balti- 
more City,"  constituted  by  a  power  of  attorney  in  the 
within  deed,  and  acknowledged  the  said  deed  to  be 
the  act  and  deed  of  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of 
Baltimore  City." 

Joshua  M.  Myers,  J.  P. 

Title  and  deed  approved  June  29th,  1883. 

John  Gill,  Jr., 

Examiner  of  Titles. 


FURTHER  ACTION  OF  THE  CITY  COUNCIL 

ACCEPTING   THE  DEED  OF  PROPERTY 

FROM  ENOCH  PR  A  TT  AND   WIFE. 


Whereas,  in  pursuance  of  Ordinance  No.  io6, 
approved  July  15th,  1882,  entided  "An  ordinance 
accepting,  on  the  part  of  the  Mayor  and  City  Coun- 
cil of  Baltimore,  the  lot  of  ground  and  improvements 
thereon  situate  on  Mulberry  street,  in  the  City  of 
Baltimore,  of  the  estimated  value  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  of  the  sum  of 
$833,333.33,  from  Enoch  Pratt,  of  the  City  of  Baltimore, 
and  contracting  and  agreeing  on  the  part  of  the  said 
Mayor  and  City  Council  with  said  Enoch  Pratt  for 
the  payment  of  an  annuity  of  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
payable  in  equal  quarterly  payments,  by  the  said 
Mayor  and  City  Council,  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
'  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City '  "; 
the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  ordinance  aforesaid 
having  been  complied  with  by  Enoch  Pratt;  and 

Whereas^  under  a  condition  of  the  contract  in  the 
foregoing  connection,  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
Baltimore  was,  on  the  ist  of  October  instant,  indebted 
to  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City  " 
the  sum  of  twelve  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  as 
the  quarterly  payment  then  due,  and  for  which  no 
provision  for  the  payment  has  been    made  by    the 


47 

Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore,  because  the 
contract  aforesaid  was  not  consummated  at  the  time 
the  general  appropriation  bill  was  pending  in  the  City 
Council ;  therefore, 

Resolved^  by  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Balti- 
more, that  the  "^um  of  twelve  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  appropriated  to 
pay  the  quarter-yearly  instalment  on  said  annuity 
of  the  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore,  due 
on  the  I  St  day  of  October,  1 883  ;  and  the  Comptroller 
of  the  City  be  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  and  di- 
rected to  issue  his  warrant  on  the  City  Register  of 
Baltimore  to  pay  to  Enoch  Pratt,  the  President  of 
"  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  Baltimore  City," 
the  amount  aforesaid,  to  be  taken  out  of  any  money 
that  may  be  in  the  City  treasury. 

Examined  by  the  Committee  on  Enrolment  and 
found  correct. 

Attested  by 

Daniel  G.  Wright, 

John  J.  Mahon, 
Henry  N.  Bankard. 

James  W.  Denny,  President  of  \st  Branch. 

Almn  Robertson,  President  of  2d  Branch. 

Was  presented  to  the  Mayor  October  10,  1883, 
and  on  same  day  endorsed. 

Approved.  Wm.  Pinkney  Whyte, 

Mayor. 


LETTER  OF  ENOCH  PR  A  TT,  FORMA  LL  Y 

TRANSFERRING   THE  MANAGEMENT 

OF  THE  LIBRAR  Y  TO   THE  BOARD 

OF  TRUSTEES. 


Baltimore,  October  i,  1884. 
To  THE  Board  of  Trustees  of 

"The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library 

OF  Baltimore  City." 

Messrs.  Enoch  Pratt,  George  Win.  Brown,  Nathaniel 
H.  Morison,  Henry  Janes,  Charles  J.  Boiiaparte, 
George  B.  Cole,  Edward  Stabler,  Jr.,  James  A. 
Gary,  John  W.  McCoy. 

Gentlemen :  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that, 
after  over  three  years  of  constant  labor  and  super- 
vision, the  Library  buildings  are  completed. 

The  main  building,  on  Mulberry  street,  is  fire- 
proof, and  the  four  branches  are  located  corner 
Fremont  and  Pitcher  streets,  corner  Hollins  and 
Calhoun  streets,  corner  Light  and  Gittings  streets, 
and  corner  O'Donnell  and  Canton  streets. 

These,  I  think,  are  all  accessible  to  the  people,  who, 
I  hope,  will  avail  of  the  advantages  it  is  my  wish  to 
offer  them,  they  being  for  all,  rich  and  poor,  without 
distinction  of  race  or  color,  who,  when  properly 
accredited,  can  take  out  the  books,  if  they  will  handle 
them  carefully  and  return  them. 

In  each  building  there  is  an  ample  reading-room, 


49 


which  I  expect  will  be  used  in  addition  to  the  distri- 
bution of  books. 

I  now  hand  the  management  over  to  you,  not  doubt- 
ing you  will  make  all  proper  arrangements  to  carry 
out  my  wishes  and  make  the  Institution  what  I  wish 
for  the  people'^of  Baltimore  and  State  of  Maryland. 

I  'leave  it  to  you  with  confidence.  In  my  opinion, 
much  depends  on  the  selection  of  a  Librarian  and 
organizing  a  proper  system.  I  would  suggest  your 
availing  of  the  experience  of  old,  well-established 
circulating  libraries,  and  proceed  with  caution. 

I  hope  the  Library  has  a  long  future,  and  I  want  it 
to  commence  right. 

In  my  letter  to  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
Baltimore,  January  21st,  1882, 1  agreed  to  pay  for  the 
annuity  of  $50,000,  payable  quarterly,  when  the  build- 
ing on  Mulberry  street  was  completed.  Wishing  to 
have  my  plans  fully  carried  out  in  my  lifetime,  I 
paid  for  the  annuity  on  ist  July,  1883,  fifteen  months 
in  advance  of  its  completion. 

I  have  used  the  quarterly  payments  in  building  the 
branches. 

THE    ACCOUNT    NOW    STANDS  : 

Paid  for  ground  and  building.  Mulberry  • 

street $250,000.00 

Paid  the  City  of  Baltimore  ....  833,333.33 
Paid  for  the  four  branches  ....  50,000.00 
Cash  on  hand 12,500.00 

Making  the  sum  total  of    ....      $1, 145.833-33 


50 

(one  million  one  hundred  and  forty-five  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three 
cents)  as  the  actual  sum  I  have  paid  the  City  for  the 
$50,000  annuity,  or  about  45^  per  cent,  interest. 

I  wish  to  return  my  thanks  to  the  architect,  Charles 
L.  Carson,  and  the  contractors,  S.  H.  &  J.  F.  Adams, 
and  all  the  sub-contractors  and  laborers  who  have 
been  connected  with  the  erection  of  the  buildings,  for 
their  faithful  services,  and  especially  to  the  gentlemen 
who  have  given  so  much  of  their  time  and  talents  in 
assisting  me  in  the  plans  and  arrangements. 

Now,  if  spared  to  see  the  Library  In  full  and  suc- 
cessful working  order  and  appreciated  by  my  fellow- 
citizens,  I  shall  pass  to  a  future  life  with  the  self-con- 
sciousness that  I  have  contributed  my  mite  for  the 
talent  entrusted  to  me. 

Enoch  Pratt. 


THE  FORMAL  OPENING  OF  THE  LIBRARY, 

ACADEMY  OF  MUSIC, 
Monday,  January  ^,  1886,  at  12  o'clock  M. 


Addresses  Delivered  upon  the  Occasion,  etc. 


PROGRAMME. 


Prayer         Rev.  Chas.  R.  Weld,  B.  D. 

Address  .     Hon.  James  Hodges,  Mayor,  Chairman. 

Address Enoch  Pratt,  Esq. 

Address  .     .     .      Hon.  Henry  Lloyd,  Governor.'''' 

Oration       Hon.  Geo.  Wm.  Brown. 

Address Hon.  J.  Morrison  Harris. 

Address Hon.  F.  C.  Latrobe. 

Address  ....     Dr.  L.  H.  Steiner,  Librarian. 

*  Governor  Lloyd  was  prevented  by  Executive  business  from  being  present. 


PRAYER, 


In  the  presence  of  a  large  and  appreciative  audi- 
ence, presided  over  by  the  Hon.  James  Hodges, 
Mayor  of  the  City,  the  dedication  ceremonies  were 
opened  by  the  following  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Charles 
R.  Weld,  B.  D.,  Minister  of  the  First  Independent 
Church  of  Baltimore : 

Infinite  and  Holy !  Giver  of  every  good  and  perfect 
gift!  We  bow  in  reverence  before  the  majesty  of 
Thy  sacred  presence.  We  invoke  Thy  divine  blessing 
upon  the  purpose  of  this  hour.  We  would  dedicate 
yonder  building  to  Thy  glory  and  to  the  free  uses  of 
the  inhabitants  of  this  City.  We  pray  that  it  may  be 
the  home  of  a  literature,  pure,  sound,  wholesome,  in- 
spiring ;  that  it  may  be  a  fountain  from  whence  the 
mighty  thoughts  of  the  undying  dead  and  the  death- 
less living  shall  flow,  in  higher  hopes,  in  purer  pur- 
poses, in  loftier  incentives,  in  holier  ambitions,  to 
enrich  the  life  of  this  great  age  and  hasten  the 
coming  of  Thy  Kingdom  on  earth  among  men.  Fill 
his  heart  with  gratitude  whom  Thou  hast  permitted 
to  see  the  glory  of  this  day — to  witness  the  completed 
and  crowned  end  of  his  efforts.     May  this  hour  be  to 


54 

him  like  fruit  from  the  tree  of  life !  Bless,  we  pray 
Thee,  those  to  whom  is  entrusted  the  burden  of 
honor  and  responsibility  in  the  development  of  the 
lasting  interests  of  this  Institution.  Bless,  we  pray 
Thee,  the  President  of  these  United  States,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  this  Commonwealth,  the  official  head  of  this 
great  City.  And  now  to  Thy  superintending  provi- 
dence we  commit  the  future  of  this  Institution — the 
issues  of  this  hour — in  the  name  of  Him,  our  Lord, 
who  has  taught  us  to  pray,  Our  Father,  who  art  in 
heaven,  hallowed  be  Thy  name.  Thy  kingdom  come. 
Thy  will  be  done  on  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven.  Give 
us  this  day  our  daily  bread.  And  forgive  us  our 
trespasses,  as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against 
us.  And  lead  us  not  into  temptation  ;  but  deliver  us 
from  evil.  For  Thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power, 
and  the  glory,  for  ever  and  ever.    Amen  and  Amen. 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  JAMES  HODGES,  MA  YOR. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

It  is  known  that  Mr.  Enoch  Pratt  in  1882  offered  to 
establish  an  Institution  in  this  community,  to  be  known 
as  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  of  BaUimore  City," 
upon  certain  conditions,  and  that  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore,  being  authorized  and  empow- 
ered by  the  Legislature  of  Maryland  to  do  so,  accepted 
his  proposal.  Mr.  Pratt  agreed  to  erect  upon  a  lot  of 
ground  on  Mulberry  street,  owned  by  him,  a  Library 
building-  of  the  estimated  cost  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  ($225,000),  and  to  con- 
vey said  lot  and  premises  to  the  Mayor  and  City 
Council  of  Baltimore ;  and,  also,  to  pay  unto  said 
Mayor  and  City  Council  the  sum  of  eight  hundred 
and  thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents,  ($833,333.33); 
provided  the  said  Mayor  and  City  Council  would 
accept  said  conveyance  and  said  sum  of  money,  and 
agree  by  Ordinance  to  grant  and  create  an  annuity, 
and  to  pay  annually  to  a  Board  of  Trustees,  and  their 
successors,  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  ($50,000), 
perpetually  thereafter,  forever,  in  quarterly  payments, 
for  the  purchase  and  maintenance  of  said  Library,  with 
not  less  than  four  branches  in  different  parts  of  the  city, 
the  said  branches  to  be  established  by  the  Trustees 


66 

within  such  time  as  their  construction  could  be  reason- 
ably accomplished  out  of  said  quarterly  payments  ;  the 
title  to  said  Library,  its  branches,  books,  and  all  other 
property,  to  be  vested  in  the  Mayor  and  City  Council 
of  Baltimore. 

For  the  annuity  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  ($50,000) 
(being  about  four  and  one-third  per  cent,  interest  on 
the  amount  invested,)  which  the  City  agreed  to  pay  to 
the  Trustees  of  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library,"  the 
sum  of  One  million  one  hundred  and  forty-five  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three 
cents  ($1,145,833.33)  has  been  contributed  by  Mr. 
Pratt  for  the  Library  and  its  uses,  made  up  of  the 
following  items : 

Paid  for  ground  and  building.  Mulberry 

street $250,000.00 

Paid  the  City  of  Baltimore 833,333.33 

Paid  for  the  four  branches 50,000.00 

Cash  on  hand 12,500.00 

$1,145,833.33 

In  further  elucidation  of  the  financial  condition  of 
the  Enoch  Pratt  Free  Library  Fund,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  money  contributed  in  July,  1883,  by  Mr. 
Pratt,  toward  the  endowment  of  the  Institution,  has 
been  invested  by  the  Commissioners  of  Finance  in  the 
bonded  debt  of  the  City,  and  that  the  original  amount, 
with    the    increment,  has   raised    tlie   value  of  the 


57 

Enoch  Pratt  Sinking  Fund  to  Nine  hundred  and 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  dollars  ($901,800),  repre- 
sented by  Seven  hundred  and  fifty-seven  thousand 
three  hundred  dollars  ($757,300)  four  per  cent,  stock, 
Ninety-five  thousand  three  hundred  dollars  ($95,300) 
five  per  cent,  stdtk,  and  Forty-nine  thousand  two  hun- 
dred dollars  ($49,200)  six  per  cent,  stock,  yielding  an 
annual  interest  of  Thirty-eight  thousand  dollars 
($38,000),  being  only  Twelve  thousand  dollars 
($12,000)  per  annum  less  than  the  amount  required 
for  the  support  of  the  Library.  It  is  estimated  that 
the  accretion  of  interest  during  the  ensuing  five  years, 
added  to  the  principal  sum,  will  make  The  Enoch 
Pratt  Free  Library  self-sustaining. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen  :  Now,  we  have  assembled 
to-day  to  inaugurate,  with  appropriate  ceremonies,  the 
Library  thus  established,  and  for  which  such  ample 
provision  has  been  made.  It  is  a  notable  event  in  the 
history  of  Baltimore,  and  marks  an  epoch  in  its  pro- 
gress. And  as,  at  such  epochs  in  the  life  of  an  indi- 
vidual or  of  a  community,  it  is  good  to  cast  a  glance 
backward  and  note  the  distance  traversed,  so  here  we 
are  tempted  to  look  back  for  a  moment  to  the  past  of 
the  English-speaking  race,  and  to  link  the  event  we 
now  celebrate,  with  one  beneficent  in  its  purpose,  far- 
reaching  in  its  consequences,  which  shines  like  a  star 
in  the  twilight  of  English  history. 

Just  a  thousand  years  ago,  to  a  year,  the  greatest 


58 

kino-  that  ever  sat  on  the  Eng-Ush  throne,  havinof 
delivered  his  people  from  invasion  and  oppression, 
cast  about  to  see  what  was  the  next  best  service  he 
could  do  them — what  next  royal  gift  should  follow 
liberty  and  peace  ?  His  answer  to  this  question  was 
remarkable  for  a  king  of  the  ninth  century.  He 
determined  to  give  them  books. 

So  he  set  scribes  to  work  to  make  copies  of  the 
few  good  books  that  could  be  found,  and  he  himself 
found  time  to  translate  from  the  Latin  into  his 
mother  tongue — literally  the  "King's  English" 
—  three  books  which  seemed  to  him,  next  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  the  best  that  he  knew  of  upon  earth.  One 
of  these  was  a  book  of  history,  one  a  book  of  philoso- 
phy, and  one  a  book  of  religion :  the  story  of  life  in  the 
past,  counsel  for  life  in  the  present,  and  guidance 
toward  life  in  the  future.  Though  but  three,  so  com- 
prehensive was  their  scope,  so  near  did  they  come  to 
occupying  the  whole  domain  of  serious  human 
thought,  that  I  think  I  am  justified  in  saying  that  in 
these  three  Alfred  founded  a  library. 

Where  did  he  place  these  books?  In  the  ninth 
century  there  was  but  one  place  that  was  free  to  all 
alike — as  free  to  the  serf  as  to  the  lord,  to  the  peasant 
as  to  the  king,  and  this  was  the  church.  So  he  placed 
these  books  in  the  churches,  where  all  that  could,  might 
read  them.  But  these  precious  volumes,  laboriously 
penned  on  parchment  by  the  long  toil  of  patient  scribes. 


59 

could  not  be  lightly  risked  from  their  appointed  cus- 
tody, and  those  who  wished  to  read  them  had  to  read 
them  in  their  place.  And  yet  so  generous  was  the 
King,  so  thoughtful  of  the  needs  of  scholars,  and 
so  anxious  that  his  bounty  might  bear  full  fruit,  that 
he  allowed  even  these  books,  under  certain  conditions, 
to  be  borrowed.  So  we  may  say  that  one  thousand 
years  ago,  the  first  English  free  lending  library  was 
founded,  as  to-day  we  inaugurate  the  newest.  And,  as 
in  the  days  of  Alfred,  a  man  among  us  having  the 
ability  and  the  will  to  bestow  a  princely  gift  upon  his 
fellow-men,  who  already  possess  the  blessings  of 
liberty  and  peace,  elects  to  give  them  books. 

I  might  here  ask  you  to  give  a  glance  down  these 
thousand  years,  and  mark  what  they  have  brought ;  to 
note  the  broadening  and  deepening  of  the  stream  of 
literature ;  the  invention  of  printing,  which  placed 
what  before  was  the  costly  luxury  of  the  few  within 
reach  of  all — making  all  mankind  co-heirs  of  the  great 
heritage  of  human  thought,  spreading  knowledge 
abroad  like  the  universal  sunshine,  which  brightens 
alike  the  cottage  and  the  palace,  so  that  the  newsboy, 
the  bootblack,  may,  if  he  will,  share  treasures  once 
beyond  the  reach  of  kings. 

We  pride  ourselves,  and  not  without  justice,  on  our 
public  schools.  We  have  determined  that  no  mem- 
ber of  the  community,  so  far  as  we  can  prevent  it, 
shall  be  debarred  from  his  share  of  the  common  hen- 


60 

tage,  and  we  make  the  opportunities  of  education  as 
broad  as  a  generous  public-school  system  could  effect  it. 
But,  in  doing  this,  we  but  place  the  key  of  knowl- 
edge into  the  student's  hand.  It  is  another  task  to 
fill  the  treasury  into  which  that  key  opens.  Thus  the 
public  library  is  the  complement  of  the  pubHc  school, 
and  carries  on  the  work  which  that  has  begun.  For 
education  is  not  an  absolute,  but  a  relative  good ; 
all  depends  upon  the  use  that  is  made  of  it.  If  it 
makes  a  man  more  potent  for  good,  it  also  makes 
him  more  potent  for  evil.  It  is  like  a  sword  with 
which  a  man  can  defend  his  home,  but  with  which,  also, 
he  can  slay  his  friend.  If  you  look  at  the  criminal 
annals,  you  will  find  that  the  most  malignant,  treacher- 
ous and  far-reaching  crimes,  black  conspiracies, 
gigantic  frauds,  secret  subde  murders,  have  been  the 
work  of  what  are  called  educated  men.  But  this  is 
not  an  argument  against  education :  it  only  reminds 
us  that  education  is  not  sufficient  in  itself  to  make  good 
citizens.  When  we  have  equipped  the  youth  with 
fiuent  knowledge  of  several  languages,  have  made 
him  a  skillful  penman  and  accountant,  have  given  him 
some  insight  into  chemistry,  physics  and  biology, 
we  have  but  placed  him  at  the  parting  of  the  ways ; 
he  may  pervert  all  the  knowledge  we  have  given 
him  to  an  instrument  of  evil.  This  we  cannot  pre- 
vent. But  what  we  can  do  is  this:  we  can  come 
before  the  young  minds,  ready  and  eager  for  knowl- 


61 

edge,  and  offer  them  such  knowledge  as  will  make 
them  better  citizens  and  better  men.  At  that  critical 
period,  when  good  and  evil  influences  are  contending 
in  the  soul  of  the  youth,  when  temptations  are  the 
strongest,  and  the  power  of  resistance  weakest,  we 
can  place  all  the  mcitements,  all  the  allurements,  all  the 
opportunities,  on  the  side  of  the  good.  Is  he  ambitious  ? 
We  offer  him  the  lives  of  the  men  whose  deeds  have 
won  them  true  glory,  and  whom  mankind  delights  to 
honor.  Does  his  fancy  turn  to  war  and  martial 
exploits?  We  place  in  his  hands  the  story  of  the 
gallant  struggle  of  the  Dutch  for  liberty,  or  the  heroic 
career  of  the  noble-hearted  Gordon.  Is  his  imagina- 
tion inflamed  with  wild  adventure?  He  can  follow 
Greeley  on  his  mission  of  mercy  to  Arctic  seas,  and 
Polar  desolations,  or  plunge,  with  Stanley,  into  the 
mysterious  heart  of  burning  Africa.  In  a  word,  there 
is  no  taste,  except  the  absolutely  vicious,  which  a 
library  cannot  provide  for,  and  give  a  leaning  toward 
the  good. 

Not  the  modern  scholar  merely,  but  the  man  of 
business,  the  merchant,  the  mechanic,  touches  the 
world  of  thought  at  a  thousand  points.  To  under- 
stand even  the  morning's  paper,  presupposes  at  least 
some  knowledge  of  half  the  circle  of  the  sciences. 

Books  in  private  or  public  collections  are  a  necessity 
of  life.  By  them  we  are  able  to  place  what  we  think 
and  do,  in  relation  with  what  mankind  is  thinking  and 


62 

doing.  We  touch  the  great  electric  chain  that  links 
together  the  human  race,  the  past  as  well  as  the  present. 
Nay,  in  a  librarian  sense  there  is  no  past  for  us,  and 
the  great  men  of  old  still  live.  The  great  writers  of 
all  ages  are  still  alive  for  us.  We  can  choose  our  com- 
panions among  the  wisest,  best,  noblest  and  most 
charming  of  men,  and  a  library  is  a  reception-room 
where  these  men  will  meet  us  and  talk  to  us  by  the 
hour. 

Though  I  will  not  say  that  a  zeal  for  learning  has 
ever  eaten  up  the  people  of  Baltimore,  or  that  we 
have  aspired  to  the  distinction  of  "the  Athens  of 
America,"  yet  we  have  never  wanted  those  who  loved, 
and  who  helped  forward  liberal  studies  and  tastes. 
The  noble  library  that  we  open  to-day  is  the  successor 
of  a  line  of  libraries  founded  or  assisted  by  private 
liberality.     Of  these  another  may  speak. 

Truly  Baltimore  has  had  reason  to  be  proud  of  her 
citizens;  of  some  who  are  still  with  us,  and  of  some 
who  have  departed ;  men,  who,  like  Peabody,  Hop- 
kins, Moses  Sheppard,  Thomas  Wilson  and  others, 
have  recognized  that  they  were  but  stewards  of  the 
wealth  with  which  Providence  had  blessed  them,  and 
held  it  in  trust  for  uses  of  good.  Such  a  citizen  is 
he  who  has  founded  this  noble  Institution,  and,  as 
with  George  Peabody  and  Johns  Hopkins,  and 
Sheppard  and  Wilson,  Baltimore  is  the  City  of  his 
adoption,  not  of  his  nativity. 


63 

I  have  known  that  citizen  for  forty  years,  and  few, 
outside  of  his  daily  associates,  have  had  a  better 
opportunity  of  learning  his  characteristics.  For 
nearly  three  years  we  served  together  on  the  Board 
of  Commissioners  of  Finance  of  this  City,  and  there 
I  saw  exemplifieci  those  traits  of  character  which  have 
given  'Enoch  Pratt  so  eminent  a  reputation  as  a 
merchant  and  financier.  He  combines,  to  an  extra- 
ordinary degree,  breadth  and  penetration  of  intel- 
lectual vision  ;  his  comprehension  of  financial  proposi- 
tions is  almost  instantaneous,  and  as  prompt  and  sure 
is  his  power  to  winnow  the  grain  from  the  chaff,  and 
note  an  unsound  spot  in  a  plausible  scheme. 

As  a  merchant,  respected  for  his  wisdom,  honored 
for  his  integrity,  he  has  lived  among  us  for  the  greater 
part  of  a  long  life.  At  once  energetic  and  unobtrusive, 
he  has  never  sought  posts  of  honor,  nor  ever  shirked 
posts  of  duty.  His  hand  has  been  felt  for  good  in 
public  affairs,  when  few  knew  the  guiding  spirit ;  and 
his  quiet  voice  has  given  wise  counsel  and  asked  no 
meed  of  praise. 

With  him,  temperament  and  judgment  are  so 
evenly  balanced  that  his  determination  is  almost 
intuitive,  and  rarely  needs  reconsideration.  His  con- 
fidence is  not  lightly  given,  nor,  when  given,  is  it 
lightly  shaken.  It  is  a  plant  of  slow  growth,  but  it 
strikes  its  roots  deep  and  strong. 

Mr.  Pratt's  fortune  was  not  won  by  speculation  ;  it 


64 

is  not  the  unwilling  tribute  paid  by  rashness  or  folly, 
to  shrewdness  or  craft.  It  has  been  the  steady  accu- 
mulation of  a  life  devoted  to  legitimate  business. 
He  saw  his  purposes  clearly  before  him,  as  the 
mariner  sees  his  guiding  star,  and  he  never  deviated 
from  his  course,  until  his  voyage  was  successfully 
accomplished.  Nor  did  he  seek  fortune  for  the  mere 
sake  of  accumulation,  and  to  be  pointed  out  as  a  rich 
man.  In  that  respect  he  somewhat  resembles  the 
elder  Vanderbilt,  of  whom  it  was  said  that,  in  his  early 
life  at  least,  he  did  not  care  for  money,  but  he  did 
care  to  carry  his  point. 

Few  have  surpassed  him  in  the  power  of  close  and 
minute  investigation  into  details,  and  nothing  rela- 
tive to  any  plan  under  his  consideration,  escapes  his 
observation,  or  is  denied  its  due  weight.  In  the 
choice  of  co-operators,  and  In  the  direction  of  their 
activity,  he  has  shown  that  high  administrative  power 
which,  in  t^e  fields  of  Commerce  and  Finance,  as  in 
other  fields,  marks  the  leader  of  men. 

Of  Mr.  Pratt's  many  public  and  private  charities  I 
shall  not  speak ;  but  I  cannot  forbear  to  mention  one 
act  that  shows  the  benevolence  of  his  heart.  Some 
years  ago  he  sold  a  farm  in  Virginia  to  a  worthy  but. 
poor  young  man  for  $20,000.  The  purchaser  had 
paid,  from  time  to  time,  one-half  the  purchase  money, 
when  a  series  of  bad  seasons  and  failure  of  crops 
made  it  impossible  for  him  to  meet  the  subsequent 


65 

payments.  Mr.  Pratt  sent  for  him,  and  learned  the 
facts.  After  expressing  sympathy  for  the  young 
man's  misfortunes,  and  encouraging  him  to  persevere 
and  hope,  he  cancelled  his  note  for  the  balance  due — 
ten  thousand  dollars — and  handed  him  a  valid  deed 
for  the  propertyr  Astonished  and  overwhelmed  by 
this  princely  liberality,  the  recipient  uttered  a  few 
broken  words  and  retired  from  his  benefactor's  pres- 
ence. Not  until  he  had  reached  his  Virginia  home 
was  he  able  to  find  words  to  express  his  gratitude. 

The  instruction  of  the  people  has  always  been  near 
to  the  heart  of  Mr.  Pratt.  The  foundation  of  this 
library  is  a  natural  sequence  to  the  Pratt  Free  School, 
which  he  founded  in  1865  in  Middleborough,  Massa- 
chusetts, which  is  still  in  successful  operation.  From 
that  time  to  this  he  has  revolved  plans  for  educational 
advancement. 

Desirous  of  bestowing  some  worthy  gift  upon  his 
fellow-citizens  of  Baltimore,  he  concluded  that  one  of 
the  greatest  needs  of  the  City  was  a  free  public 
library.  The  Peabody  Library  is  a  grand  foundation, 
worthy  of  the  generous  man  to  whom  it  owes  its 
existence,  and  its  stores  are  of  inestimable  value ; 
but  it  is  of  a  different  character,  and  meets  other 
wants.  Mr.  Pratt's  design  was  to  found  a  library  of 
good  reading  for  the  entire  public,  of  books  which 
might  be  read  at  the  fireside,  and  should  carry  their 
stores  of  knowledge,  of  beauty,  or  of  innocent  recrea- 


66 

tion,  to  the  homes  of  the  people.  The  plan,  as  the 
founder  matured  it,  and  as  it  will  be  explained  to 
you  in  detail,  consists  of  a  central  collection,  worthily — 
indeed  magnificently  —  housed,  with  branches  in 
several  sections  of  the  city,  each  branch  to  be  a  minor 
but  representative  library,  and  all  in  communication 
with  the  Central  Library  and  its  ample  stores. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  past  and  of  the  present ;  let 
me  cast  one  single  glance  into  the  future. 

Who  can  estimate  the  results,  in  the  years  to  come, 
of  the  Institution  we  inaugurate  to-day?  The 
benefits  of  a  library  are  not  of  the  kind  that  force 
themselves  upon  the  imagination.  So,  too,  are  the 
beneficent  operations  of  Nature.  The  bursting  torrent 
may  inundate  a  valley,  the  cyclone  may  turn  a  smiling 
land  into  ruin  and  devastation ;  but  it  is  the  soft 
pervasiveness  of  the  summer  rain  that  quickens  the 
parched  fields  into  verdure,  and  makes  the  whole 
horizon  laugh  with  the  glad  promise  of  the  golden 
harvest. 

It  is  in  this  constant,  silent,  and  pervasive  influence 
of  the  library  that  its  power  resides.  Who  can  con- 
jecture how  many  homes  it  will  brighten  ? — how 
many  firesides  will  be  made  more  attractive  than  the 
saloon  or  the  gaming-house? — how  often  it  will 
place  the  golden  key  of  knowledge  in  the  hand  of 
struggling  talent ;  how  often  it  may  kindle  the  first 
sparks  of  unrecognized  genius  ? — to  how  many  will  it 


67 

bring  help  and  solace  in  the  conflict  of  daily  life? 
to  how  many  it  will  open  new  horizons  and  unknown 
skies  ? 

When  years  shall  have  passed  away ;  whe'n  the 
founder  and  we  his  contemporaries  have  departed; 
when  this  City  h'as  doubled  its  population,  and  this 
Library,  always  growing,  offers  to  the  Baltimore  of 
another  century  the  works  of  authors  now  unborn ; 
when  Science  shall  have  realized  some  of  its  proudest 
hopes,  and  answers  have  been  found  to  some  of  the 
enigmas  which  now  perplex  mankind ;  while  all  the 
time  this  Institution  has  been  faithful  to  its  duty  of 
disseminating  among  the  people  whatever  is  best  In 
human  thought,  then  let  a  balance-sheet  be  struck  and 
an  estimate  of  this  great  benefaction  be  made  up,  then 
let  some  Baltimorean  of  the  twentieth  century  stand 
where  I  am  standing,  and,  seeing  clearly  the  past  as 
I  see  dimly  the  future,  remind  his  fellow-citizens  what 
they  owe  to  Enoch  Pratt. 


ADDRESS  OF  ENOCH  PR  A  TT. 


It  is  with  great  pleasure  and  satisfaction  I  meet  you 
to  inaugurate  the  opening  of  "  The  Enoch  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  City,"  which  I  proposed  to 
establish  in  my  letter  to  the  Mayor  and  City  Council, 
January  21,  1882,  and  after  four  years  of  labor  to 
inform  you  of  the  completion  in  the  most  thorough 
and  substantial  manner  of  the  fine  library  buildings, 
and  the  collecting  of  over  32,000  volumes  of  books 
arranged  for  your  use. 

I  have  the  greater  satisfaction  of  knowing  and 
seeing  my  plans  completed  as  I  designed  them. 

It  may  be  proper  for  me  to  more  fully  explain  my 
meaning  of  a  free  circulating  Library.  It  is  not  free 
for  you  to  take  the  books  as  you  please  and  return 
them  or  not,  but  is  free  from  charge  for  the  use  of 
them. 

To  protect  the  Library,  the  Trustees  have  adopted 
rules  gathered  from  experience  in  other  cities,  which, 
I  have  no  doubt,  you  will  find  satisfactory  when  you 
become  accustomed  to  them. 

I  consider  the  plan  adopted  to  secure  the  annuity 
fund  for  the  support  and  increase  of  the  Library 
as  the  great  feature,  and  about  the  only  thing  I  ask 


69 

credit  for.  As  it  is  founded  on  a  rock,  accordino-  to 
Scripture,  it  must  stand. 

Now,  in  the  hope  of  God's  blessing,  I  hand  it 
over  to  you,  expecting  you  will  foster,  protect  and 
increase  it,  that  its  beneficent  influences  may  be  for 
the  benefit  of  the- present  and  all  future  generations, 
as  long  as  our  beloved  city  of  Baltimore  shall  exist. 

My  work  is  finished.     I  am  satisfied. 


THE  ORATION  BY  HON.  GEORGE  WM.  BROWN, 
OF  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES. 


Every  city,  like  every  individual,  has  a  distinctive 
character  which  is  derived  from  many  sources,  and 
has  also  its  own  laws  of  growth  and  development. 
We  have  assembled  to-day  to  celebrate  an  important 
event  in  the  life  of  this  City  which  invites  us  to  look 
backward  as  well  as  forward.  The  people  of  Mary- 
land, at  an  early  period,  seem  to  have  entertained  the 
expectation  that  in  the  nature  of  things,  a  large  town 
would  spring  up  somewhere  near  the  headwaters  of  the 
Chesapeake,  but  it  was  only  after  several  experiments 
had  been  made  and  had  failed,  that  the  proper  site 
appeared  to  be  the  spot  on  which  we  now  stand — a 
point  about  midway  between  the  North  and  South  of 
the  country,  and  in  closer  proximity  to  the  West  than 
the  other  cities  of  the  seaboard. 

As  a  consequence  of  its  favorable  position,  the 
little  town  of  Baltimore,  laid  out  in  1734  by  the  county 
surveyor  on  the  humble  scale  of  sixty  lots  in  all,  each 
containing  about  one  acre,  began,  after  nearly  thirty 
years  of  patient  waiting,  to  acquire  a  healthy  and, 
for  that  period,  a  remarkably  rapid  growth.  Enter- 
prising men  of  business  from  other  parts  of  Maryland, 
as  well  as  from  her  sister  provinces,  and  from  England, 


71 

Ireland  and  Scodand,  and  a  few  from  the  continent 
of  Europe,  were  attracted  to  the  new  and  thriving 
setdement.  In  1756  many  of  the  French  inhabitants 
of  Acadia,  or  Nova  Scotia,  as  it  is  now  called,  who 
had  been  ruthlessly  expelled  from  their  homes  by  the 
British  on  their  occupation  of  that  province,  found 
shelter  here,  and  the  part  of  the  town  where  they 
resided  was  long  known  as  Frenchtown. 

In  1793,  during  the  epoch  of  the  French  Revolution, 
a  large  and  valuable  accession  of  French  populauon 
from  San  Domingo  took  refuge  in  Baltimore,  in  order 
to  escape  the  revolutionary  outbreak  in  that  island. 
From  such  beginnings,  and  from  the  traditional  habit 
of  the  people  of  Maryland  to  welcome  all  comers, 
without  regard  to  country,  race  or  religion,  it  naturally 
followed  that  the  citizens  of  Baltimore  have  always 
been  characterized  by  a  freedom  from  provincialism, 
by  a  liberal  disposiuon  to  adopt  new  ideas  and 
methods,  and  by  their  hospitable  reception  of  strangers. 
Before  the  last  century  closed  it  came  to  pass  that 
the  white  sails  of  her  commerce  were  to  be  seen  far 
and  near  in  many  waters,  while  the  inland  country 
was  traversed  by  huge  wagons,  canvas-covered,  drawn 
by  two,  four,  and  even  six  horses,  carrying  the  neces- 
saries of  civilized  life  to  distant  towns  and  hamlets, 
whence  they  were  distributed  to  the  surrounding 
country  up  to  the  borders  of  the  ever-retreating 
wilderness,  and  whence  came  in  return  the  abundant 
products  of  the  fertile  and  virgin  soil. 


72 

Amid  all  this  traffic  the  amenities  and  amusements 
of  life  were  not  forgotten.  The  first  theatre  built  in 
the  colonies  was  at  Annapolis,  in  1782.  During  the 
War  of  the  Revolution  dramatic  exhibitions  were 
prohibited,  but  soon  after  its  close  they  obtained  a 
permanent  home  in  Baltimore.  Long  after  this,  and 
when  I  first  knew  them,  they  were  of  a  high  character. 
An  occasional  visit  to  the  old  HoUiday  Street  Theatre 
to  hear  one  of  Shakespeare's  plays  rendered  by  the 
excellent  stock  company  of  that  day  was  the  supreme 
delight  of  my  boyhood.  I  remember,  in  Henry  IV 
the  manager,  Wood,  as  a  right  royal  Prince  Hal, 
Wm.  Warren,  Sr.,  as  a  veritable  Falstaff — even  in 
size — and  the  elder  Joseph  Jefferson,  who  in  that 
play  was  only  the  First  Carrier,  remains  to  this  day 
impressed  on  my  memory  as  the  very  drollest  and 
most  charming  of  comedians.  He  could,  when  he 
pleased,  with  his  contagious  laugh  behind  the  scenes, 
before  he  reached  the  stage  to  make  his  first  bow, 
create  a  ripple  of  merriment  through  the  expectant 
audience.  Still  later  Junius  Brutus  Booth  rendered 
the  part  of  Richard  III.  as  fascinating  as  it  was 
terrible  by  the  flashes  of  his  genius. 

But,  although  in  the  early  days  of  Baltimore  her 
business  men  were  distinguished  for  their  sagacity, 
spirit  and  enterprise,  and  although  there  were  eminent 
names  in  the  learned  professions,  and  although  the 
social  graces  and  enjoyments  were  successfully  culti- 


73 

vated,  it  did  not  necessarily  follow  that  public  libraries 
and  other  means  for  liberal  culture  would  be 
adequately  provided.  On  the  contrary,  their  appear- 
ance was  postponed  to  a  much  later  period. 

Yet  efforts  in  that  direction  were  not  wanting. 
The  chief  of  these  was  the  establishment  of  the 
Library  Company  of  Baltimore  in  1795.  It  was  a 
stock  company,  and,  therefore,  its  benefits  were  con- 
fined to  a  few.  It  was  selected  v/ith  great  care,  and 
contained  many  valuable  volumes,  but,  unfortunately, 
adequate  provision  was  not  made  for  a  constant 
supply  of  new  books,  and  this  fatal  deficiency  ruined 
the  hopeful  enterprise,  and  soon  after  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Maryland  Historical  Society,  in  1844, 
this  collection  of  books  was  transferred  to  that  body, 
and  became  the  foundation  of  its  library.  No  public 
library  can  be  long  self-sustaining.  It  needs  a 
generous  hand  both  for  its  endowment  and  support. 
And  yet  the  old  Baltimore  Library  did  good  work 
while  it  lasted,  and  I  feel  greatly  obliged  to  my  two 
grandfathers,  one  a  doctor  of  divinity  and  one  a 
doctor  of  medicine,  that  they  were  among  its  founders, 
for  by  their  means  I  became  free  of  its  stores.  It  is 
true  that  I  read  a  good  many  novels  and  plays  which 
perhaps  I  ought  not  to  have  read,  and  neglected  to 
read  other  books  which  I  ought  to  have  read ;  but 
none  the  less  am  I  indebted  to  the  old  library  for 
some  of  the  purest  enjoyments,  as  well  as  the  best 


74 


inspirations,  of  my  life.  I  have  a  kindly  recollection, 
too,  of  its  ancient  librarian,  the  only  one  in  the  whole 
establishment,  although  I  had  occasional  encounters 
with  him  for  the  last  new  book,  particularly  if  it  was 
of  the  amusing  sort,  which  he  sometimes,  as  I  sus- 
pected, kept  stored  away  for  a  privileged  reader,  if 
not  for  his  own  perusal. 

In  1839  the  Mercantile  Library  was  founded  with 
the  object  of  supplying  in  some  measure  the  necessity 
for  books  then  felt  by  a  number  of  persons.  As  it 
was  supported  by  the  annual  subscription  of  members, 
its  resources  were  necessarily  limited,  but,  being  in 
excellent  hands,  it  for  many  years  furnished  an 
important  part  of  the  intellectual  food  of  the  people. 
Its  usefulness  still  continues  by  the  generous  aid  of 
Mr.  John  W.  McCoy,  and  I  am  sure  I  express  the 
desire  which  many  feel  that  this  library  should  always 
be  maintained  for  the  benefit  of  a  large  class  whose 
wants  can  nowhere  else  be  so  well  supplied.  In  1857 
George  Peabody,  of  London,  and  previpusly  of  this 
city,  established  in  his  lifetime  the  Peabody  Institute, 
a  great  work  in  itself,  and  still  greater  for  the  noble 
example  thus  set,  the  far-reaching  and  beneficial 
effects  of  which  cannot  be  estimated.  The  Institute 
contains  a  library  for  reference  and  research  which 
by  its  extent  and  completeness  commands  the  admira- 
tion of  all  scholars,  and  which  continues  to  increase 
so  rapidly  as  to  meet  the  demands  of  that  portion  of 


75 

the    community.     There   are    in    Baltimore    various 
other  Kbraries,  designed  mainly  for  the  use  of  par- 
ticular professions  or  classes,  some  large  and  excellent 
of  their  kind,  all  doubtless  doing  good    service    in 
supplying  special  wants ;  but  all  the  libraries  in  the 
City,  valuable  as*"  they  are,  indispensable  as  some  are, 
fail  to 'reach  the  great  need  of  the  mass  of  the  com- 
munity.    This  need  is   of  modern  growth.     When 
the  old  Library  Company  to  which  I  have  referred 
was  established  in  1795,  the  schoolmaster  and  school- 
mistress had  not  been  abroad.     It  is  not  strange  that 
a  library  company  should  at  that  period  have  been 
founded   for  the  benefit  chiefly  of  the  stockholders 
and  their  families.     It  had  not  then  entered  into  the 
minds  of  men  that  it  is  the    duty  of  the  State  to 
instruct  the  whole  people,  and  until  the  people  are 
instructed  they  cannot  be  readers  and  have  little  need 
of  books.     The  effect  of  public  schools  has  been  to 
create  a  host  of  readers.     Without  books,  progress 
in   liberal   education   must  cease  with   the    close   of 
schooldays,  and  at  a  period  where,  instead  of  closing, 
it  ought  to  take  a  new  departure  and  lead  up  to  the 
great  end  of  all  education — a  higher  and  nobler  life. 
Enoch  Pratt  was  among  the  first  to  perceive  this,  and 
he  took  the  subject  into  serious  consideration.     In 
large  cities  there  are  always  to  be  found  among  the 
men  who  are  most  prominent,  useful  and  successful 
in  the  different  walks  of  life,  those  who  in  their  youth 


76 

came  from  smaller  towns  or  rural  districts.  Mr.  Pratt 
belongs  to  this  number.  Born  in  North  Middleborough, 
Mass.,  and  having  received  his  commercial  education 
in  Boston,  he  came  here  at  the  age  of  twenty-three 
and  established  himself  in  the  iron  business,  which  he 
still  continues.  Prosperity  soon  followed — not  rapidly, 
but  steadily,  because  it  was  based  on  those  qualities  of 
honesty,  industry,  sagacity  and  energy  which,  mingled 
with  thrift,  although  they  cannot  be  said  to  insure  suc- 
cess, are  certainly  most  likely  to  achieve  it.  Mr.  Pratt 
and  myself  have  been  friends  for  many  years.  After 
he  had  become  a  thriving  merchant,  and  when  I  was  a 
painstaking  lawyer,  he  came  to  me  for  legal  advice, 
and  as  the  library  question  necessarily  had  a  legal 
side,  he  frequently  consulted  me  on  the  subject.  In 
this  way  I  came  to  know  more  than  any  one  except 
Mr.  Pratt  himself  in  regard  to  his  intention  to  found 
a  free  library. 

Wherever  civilization  flourishes  there  must  be 
libraries,  and  they  must  be  accessible  to  scholars. 
From  its  very  nature,  a  library  should  be  diffusive  in 
its  character.  It  would  seem  from  recent  investiga- 
tions that  the  library  at  Nineveh  of  the  monarch 
Sardanapalus,  820  years  before  Christ,  was  thrown 
open  for  the  general  use  of  the  king's  subjects ; 
and  the  inscription  said  to  have  been  placed  on  the 
famous  library  which  the  Egyptian  king,  Rameses 
the  First,  founded  in  the  fourteenth  century  before 


77 

Christ,  tells  its  own  story.  That  inscription  was, 
'  The  Dispensary  of  the  Soul.' 

But  the  idea  of  a  free  circulating  library  for  a 
large  city  is  of  recent  origin.  It  became  the  fixed 
purpose  of  Mr.  Pratt  that  whatever  he  did  must  be 
for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  people  of  the  city  of  his 
adopti'on.  His  plan  gradually  took  its  present  shape, 
and  it  contains  some  new  and  valuable  features,  both 
as  regards  the  character  of  its  administration  and  the 
permanent  provision  made  for  its  support.  The 
Library  could  be  established  only  by  a  large  and 
generous  gift  of  money. 

Mr.  Pratt  belongs  to  a  school  of  business  men, 
now  somewhat  obsolete,  by  whom  fortunes  are  made 
not  by  great  and  speculative  enterprises,  but  by 
patient  industry.  Although  a  man  of  wealth,  a 
million  of  dollars  and  upwards  is  to  him  a  large  sum 
of  money.  His  riches  have  never  grown  so  great  as 
to  bring  down  on  him  the  infliction  of  any  of  the  new- 
fangled titles  which  are  used  to  decorate  the  members 
of  our  American  plutocracy.  He  is  not  known  even  in 
the  newspapers  as  a  "  Railroad  King  "  or  a  "  Merchant 
Prince,"  but  simply  as  Enoch  Pratt,  sometime  and  now 
merchant  and  banker;  and  yet  the  time  has  already 
come  when  he,  like  George  Peabody,  has  earned  a 
distinction  far  worthier  and  more  enduring  than  any 
tide — the  rare  distinction  of  having  in  his  lifetime 
devoted  a  large  portion  of  his  fortune  to  the  promo- 


78 


tion  of  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  his  fellow- 
citizens.  Only  a  man  of  generosity  and  force  of 
character  as  well,  is  capable  of  making  such  a  sacrifice. 
Mr.  Pratt  has  explained  his  plan,  and  you  are 
entitled  to  hear  it  in  his  own  words.  On  the  21st  of 
January,  1882,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Mayor 
and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  in  which  he  said  that 
for  some  years  he  had  contemplated  establishing  a 
free  circulating  library  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole 
city,  and,  in  pursuance  of  this  plan,  the  excavation  of 
the  foundation  had  already  been  commenced,  and 
that  he  had  entered  into  a  contract  to  erect  a  fire-proof 
building  on  his  Mulberry  street  lot,  capable  of  holding 
two  hundred  thousand  volumes,  and  that  his  purpose 
was  to  have  branches  connected  with  it  in  the  four 
quarters  of  the  City,  under  the  same  management. 
He  estimated  that  the  building  would  cost  about 
^225,000,  and  upon  its  completion  he  proposed  to 
convey  it  to  the  City.  The  title  to  all  the  books  and 
property  was  also  to  be  vested  in  the  City,  to  which 
he  agreed  to  pay,  on  the  completion  of  the  building, 
the  additional  sum  of  $833,333.33)^,  provided  the 
City  would  grant  an  annuity  of  $50,000  per  annum 
forever,  payable  quarterly  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
the  Library,  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  the 
Library  and  its  branches.  He  proposed  that  a  Board 
of  nine  Trustees  should  be  incorporated  for  the 
management  of  the  Library;  that  the  Trustees  should 


79 


be  selected  by  himself  from  our  best  citizens,  and 
that  all  vacancies  which  should  occur  should  be  filled 
by  the  Board. 

The  articles  of  incorporation  were  to  contain  a 
provision  that  no  Trustee  or  officer  should  be  appointed 
or  removed  on  religious  or  political  grounds.  The 
Trustees  were  to  receive  from  the  City  the  quarterly 
payments,  and  to  expend  them  in  their  discretion  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Library.  It  was  believed,  he  added, 
that  this  annual  payment  would  afford  a  sufficient 
sum  for  the  purchase  of  books  for  establishing  the 
branches,  and  for  the  general  management.  The 
Trustees  were  to  be  required  to  make  an  annual 
report  to  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  their  pro- 
ceedings and  of  the  condition  of  the  Library,  and  the 
report  was  also  to  contain  a  full  account  of  the  money 
received  and  expended.  Mr.  Pratt  said,  in  conclusion, 
that  the  plan  thus  proposed  for  the  support  and 
management  of  the  Library  was  the  result  of  long 
and  careful  consideration,  and  that  he  was  satisfied  it 
was  well  adapted  to  promote  the  great  object  in 
view — the  free  circulation  of  the  books  of  a  large 
and  ever-growing  Library  among  the  people  of  the 
whole  City.  Such  was  Mr.  Pratt's  generous  offer  and 
judicious  plan  as  set  forth  by  himself. 

On  the  30th  of  March,  1882,  the  General  Assembly 
of  Maryland  passed  an  act  incorporating  the  Library 
exactly  according  to  the  plan  proposed  by  Mr.  Pratt, 


80 


and  also  authorizing  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of 
Baltimore  to  pass  an  ordinance  to  carry  the  plan  into 
full  effect,  provided  said  ordinance  should  be  approved 
by  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  people  of  the  City. 
The  necessary  ordinance  was  accordingly  passed  by 
the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Baltimore  on  the  15th 
of  July,  1882,  and  on  the  6th  of  November,  1882,  the 
ordinance  was  accepted  by  the  vote  of  the  people. 
These  careful  and  somewhat  complicated  proceedings 
on  the  part  of  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  of  Balti- 
more and  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State,  and 
their  ratification  by  the  subsequent  vote  of  the  people 
of  the  City,  were  deemed  to  be  expedient,  and 
perhaps  necessary,  in  view  of  a  provision  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  State. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Maryland, 
in  the  session  of  1882,  eloquently  expressed  in  a 
joint  resolution  its  sense  of  the  beneficence  of  Mr. 
Pratt,  and  of  the  value  of  his  foundation. 

Never  in  Maryland  has  a  public  Institution  been 
founded  with  so  much  care  and  with  such  hearty 
approval  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  Baltimore,  and 
of  the  constituted  authorities  of  both  City  and  State. 

As  has  been  stated,  Mr.  Pratt  contributed  the 
sum  of  $1,058,000,  a  portion  of  which  was  expended 
in  building  and  other  necessary  improvements,  and 
the  residue  —  namely,  $833,333.33^  —  was  paid  in 
cash  to  the  City.    On  this  sum  the  City  has  agreed  to 


81 

pay  interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent.,  or  $50,000 
annually,  for  the  support  of  the  Library.  Six  per  cent, 
is  in  Maryland  the  interest  allowed  by  law  on  all 
debts,  unless  a  different  agreement  is  made  between 
the  parties.  A  large  portion  of  the  City's  debt  still 
bears  interest  atf-  that  rate.  Most  damaging  conse- 
quences would  follow  if  the  income  of  the  Library 
should  vary  from  year  to  year  with  the  fluctuations  in 
the  market-rate  of  money.  Stability  is  absolutely 
essential,  and  the  income  thus  provided  is  sufficient, 
but  not  more  than  sufficient,  for  the  great  object  to 
be  accomplished.  For  every  reason  it  comported 
with  the  dignity  and  self-respect  of  the  City  that  on 
such  a  debt  it  should  pay  the  legal  rate  of  interest, 
and  this  was  approved  and  agreed  to,  not  only  by  the 
General  Assembly  and  City  Council,  but  by  the 
people  of  Baltimore,  acting  in  their  sovereign  capacity. 
Boston,  to  her  great  credit,  was  the  first  of  Ameri- 
can cities  to  establish  a  free  library.  According  to 
the  second  report  of  her  Trustees,  made  in  1854,  the 
Library,  after  it  had  existed  for  two  years,  contained 
16,221  volumes.  The  Pratt  Library  begins  with 
nearly  twice  as  many.  The  Boston  Library,  includ- 
ing the  branches,  has  increased  to  the  number  of 
453,947  volumes,  but  much  the  greater  part  is  not  for 
circulation  or  popular  use,  but  for  research  and  for 
scholars.  In  addition  to  an  income  from  investments 
generously  given  by  individuals,  amounting  to  about 


82 


$7000,  Boston,  during  the  last  two  years,  has  appro- 
priated each  year  for  the  support  of  her  Library 
$1 20,000.  Her  Library  buildings  have  cost  the  city  a 
large  sum  of  money,  and  a  larger  building  is  now 
contemplated.  Much  of  this  great  expense  arises 
not  from  the  circulating  and  popular  feature  of  the 
library,  but  from  the  department  of  research  and 
study.  This  department,  as  I  have  already  said,  is  in 
Baltimore  amply  provided  for  by  the  Library  of  the 
Peabody  Institute. 

There  is  another  consideration  which  makes  a  free 
library  especially  valuable  in  this  City  at  this  time. 
For  a  long  period  Maryland,  in  common  with  her 
sister  States  of  the  South,  suffered  from  the  exist- 
ence of  African  slavery,  now  for  more  than  twenty 
years  happily  abolished.  While  slavery  lasted  it  was 
a  hindrance  and  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  both 
races,  to  those  who  were  free  as  well  as  to  those  who 
were  enslaved.  Now  Baltimore  stands  erect,  with 
every  weight  removed,  at  the  entrance  of  a  free  and 
therefore  new  South,  of  which  she  is  a  part,  and  with 
all  the  possibilities  of  intellectual  development  in 
which  she  shares.  Already  has  the  genius  of  South- 
ern people  flowered  forth  with  unexpected  luxuriance. 
Sidney  Lanier,  who  came  to  Baltimore  after  the  close 
of  the  Civil  War,  was  soon  honorably  associated  first 
with  the  Peabody  Institute,  and  afterwards,  until  his 
death,  with  Johns  Hopkins  University  as  Lecturer. 
The   noble    purity   and    simplicity   of  his   life  were 


83 

quickly  recognized,  and  the  tablet  to  his  memory 
placed  in  Hopkins  Hall  shows  the  high  estimation  in 
which  he  was  held  by  the  University ;  but  it  is  only 
since  his  death  that  the  published  volume  of  his 
poems  has  revealed  the  subtlety,  delicacy  and  power 
of  his  genius.  George  W.  Cable,  especially,  in  his  "  Old 
Creole  Days,"  has  with  singular  skill  and  power  opened 
a  new  and  fascinating  region  of  fiction  which  seems  to 
belong  to  himself  alone.  Joel  Chandler  Harris,  in  the 
wit,  wisdom  and  folk-lore  of  "  Uncle  Remus,"  has  won 
the  hearts  of  young  and  old.  Who  has  not  laughed 
till  he  cried  over  the  legend  of  the  "Tar-Baby"? 
Who  does  not  sympathize  with  the  little  boy  who, 
when  he  saw  a  dead  rabbit,  wept  bitterly  and  refused 
to  be  comforted,  because  he  said  he  knew  that  "  Brer 
Rabbit"  was  dead  at  last  ?  And  Mary  N.  Murfree,  or 
Charles  Egbert  Craddock,  as  she  prefers  to  be  called, 
has  not  only  made  famous  her  beloved  Tennessee 
mountains,  but  has  accomplished  the  more  difficult 
task  of  creating  an  interest  in  the  rude  mountaineers, 
ennobled  as  they  are  in  the  light  of  her  genius,  by 
heroic  and  tender  traits  in  both  man  and  woman. 
We  cannot  hear  in  the  city  streets  the  coming  foot- 
steps of  our  writers  and  thinkers.  They  will  appear 
in  their  own  good  time,  and  will  not  be  hastened  at 
our  pleasure ;  but  wherever  there  is  genius  it  is  fos- 
tered by  books  freely  offered  and  freely  used.  Per- 
haps we  may  hope  at  some  time  for  another  genius 


84 

as  bright,  but  not  as  wayward,  as  the  poet  Edgar 
Allan  Poe,  who  sleeps  in  our  soil,  where  he  properly 
belongs,  but  whose  fame  is  not  bounded  by  the  narrow 
limits  of  any  city  or  State  or  country.  Free  libraries 
are  not  made  wholly  for  authors,  original  thinkers 
and  men  of  genius,  for  these  must  always  be  few  in 
numbers,  but  chiefly  for  those  who  hunger  and  tliirst, 
as  I  believe  all  intelligent  people  sometimes  do,  for 
something  better  and  higher  than  the  pursuits  of  the 
mere  workday  world  in  which  they  live,  and  to  all 
such  the  Library,  with  its  books  and  periodicals,  its 
pleasant  reading-rooms,  and  the  instructive  or  enter- 
taining volumes  to  be  taken  away  as  home  compan- 
ions, is  an  unspeakable  blessing.  The  invitation  is  to 
all.  A  few  love  knowledge  for  its  own  sake,  some 
from  a  desire  to  know  the  truth,  and  others  for  various 
reasons ;  but  every  one  who  desires  to  learn  some- 
thing worth  knowing,  must  go  for  the  instruction  to 
the  surest  source — that  is,  to  the  best  books.  The 
cordial  invitation  extended  to  all  seekers  for  knowl- 
edge can  hardly  be  better  expressed  than  in  the 
appeal  uttered  long  ago  by  the  wise  son  of  Sirach. 
He  still  says  to  us,  in  language  which  our  Library  reite- 
rates, "  Draw  near  unto  me,  ye  unlearned,  and  dwell  in 
the  house  of  learning."  There  is  a  much  larger  class 
who  will  resort  to  this  Library,  and  whose  wants 
should  be  amply  supplied — those  who  seek  for  good 
literature  without  any  definite  purpose  of  study,  but 
for  relaxation  of  mind,  for  innocent  enjoyment,  and 


85 


for  general  culture.  How  many  there  are  to-day  in 
this  city  who  are  worn  down  by  household  cares,  by 
the  drudgery  of  daily  toil,  and  by  the  anxieties  of 
business!  how  many  by  the  still  greater  trials  and 
bereavements  which  are  inseparable  incidents  of  our 
chequered  human  existence  !  To  such  will  come  as 
a  benediction  the  invitation  which  I  would  fain  borrow 
from  the  sweet  and  tender  words  of  Shakespeare : 

"  Come  and  take  choice  of  all  my  library, 
And  so  beguile  thy  sorrow." 

Good  literature!  What  region  of  thought  and 
feeling  does  it  not  embrace  ?  What  heart  does  it  not 
soften  ?  What  intellect  does  it  not  quicken  ?  What 
soul  does  it  not  elevate  ?  Let  me  close  with  an 
extract  from  Edgar  Quinet,  a  modern  French  writer 
who  knew  and  loved  literature  well,  and  who  at  the 
close  of  his  career  thus  expressed  his  gratitude  :  "  I 
have  profited,"  he  said, "  from  the  days  and  years  which, 
have  been  given  me  to  live  in  familiarity  with  the 
great  minds  of  all  times.  Those  good  geniuses,  who 
have  made  the  world  illustrious,  have  not  disdained 
me.  Without  demanding  of  me  my  titles,  who  I  am, 
or  whence  I  came,  they  have  admitted  me  into  their 
company.  They  have  opened  to  me  their  volumes ; 
they  have  allowed  me  to  read  into  their  thoughts, 
their  secrets ;  they  have  let  me  drink  of  their  sweet 
knowledge.  I  have  forgotten  in  this  occupation  the 
evil  days  which  have  come  upon  me." 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  J.  MORRISON  HARRIS. 


Mr.  Pratt,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

In  view  of  this  thronged  and  brilliant  audience, 
so  largely  representing  the  culture  and  intelligence  of 
the  City,  one  may  well  say,  "  Peace  hath  her  victories 
no  less  renowned  than  war,"  and  that  a  quiet  and 
unostentatious  citizen  may  achieve  a  popular  triumph, 
as  brilliant  as  that  accorded  the  successful  soldier,  by 
a  simple  act  that  illustrates  his  acceptance  of  a  great 
idea — the  recognition  by  wealth  of  the  responsibility 
of  wealth.  That  money  is  power,  is  common  experi- 
ence *  crystallized  into  proverb.  I  am  not  concerned 
to-day  either  with  the  manner  of  its  acquisition  or  the 
modes  of  its  abuse.  I  heartily  wish  that  all  who  have 
it  may  be  happy  in  its  possession,  and  I  take  it  that  far 
too  much  of  the  sharp  criticism  rising  into  bitter  denun- 
ciation of  the  rich,  because  they  fail  to  do  the  many 
things  we  think  they  ought  to  do,  and  are  sure  we 
would  do  in  their  places,  has  in  it  very  positive 
elements  of  injustice,  self-deception  and  humbug. 

There  are,  however,  phases  of  the  subject  in 
which  you  and  I,  leaving  to  others  the  cheap  luxury 
of  condemnation,  have  a  right  both  to  speak  and  feel. 
These  are  the  occasions  when  the  millions  are  brought 
in  contact  with  the  wants  and  interests  of  the  many. 


87 


and  the  immense  leverage  of  money  applied  to  the 
relief,  instruction  and  elevation  of  the  masses  of  the 
people,  making  lighter  the  burdens  of  poverty,  soften- 
ing the  asperities  of  adverse  fortune,  leading  ignor- 
ance into  light,  stimulating  the  honorable  ambition  of 
willing  labor,  developing  and  fostering  true  manliness, 
and,  through  the  thousand  channels  into  which  the 
dedicated  wealth  may  be  turned,  bringing  comfort 
and  health  and  happiness  to  multitudes  dwelling  in 
the  deserts  and  choked  with  the  sands  of  life. 

Wisely,  willingly  and  cordially  we  greet  the  men 
who  so  use  their  abundant  wealth,  for  they  have  well 
deserved  our  acclamations  of  praise. 

The  free-library  endowment  interests  me  chiefly 
because  it  plants  in  the  community  another  educa- 
tional force.  I  believe  in  and  advocate  popular  edu- 
cation widely  diffused  and  free  as  it  is  possible  to 
make  it ;  not  as  the  luxury  of  the  few,  but  as  the 
primary  and  essential  need  of  the  many,  underlying 
and  presupposed  by  our  political  theory.  We  need 
it  on  all  wise  lines  and  through  all  legitimate  agencies. 
We  want  it  by  public  legislation  and  by  private 
munificence.  We  want  it  on  the  lines  of  the  judicious 
curriculum,  the  intelligent  and  absolutely  non-political 
and  non-sectarian  administration  of  a  liberally  sus- 
tained public-school  system.  We  want  it  on  the 
lines  of  the  Free  Library,  such  as  you,  sir,  have  given 
us,  with  its  seat  in  the  centre  of  population  and  its 
arms  reaching  out  to  the  circumference,  with  its  doors 


88 

open  to  all,  and  its  treasures  of  instruction  to  be 
availed  of,  I  trust,  by  ever-increasing  multitudes  as 
the  years  roll  on.  We  want  it  through  the  opportu- 
nities of  a  Library  of  scholarly  reference  and  research, 
and  we  want  it  on  the  yet  broader  lines  of  a  great 
University,  where  studious  labor  and  intellectual  fitness 
may  receive  thorough  equipment,  grasp  the  large 
problems  of  philosophy,  trace  the  devious  course  of 
history,  and  in  the  limitless  fields  of  scientific  research 
make  brilliant  discovery  of  new  and  sublime  truths. 

Largely  as  these  wants  have  been  met  by  the 
munificence  of  Peabody,  Hopkins  and  Pratt,  the  need 
is  not  wholly  fulfilled. 

We  have,  indeed,  great  reason  to  be  proud  of 
these  comparatively  new  departures  on  the  line  of 
the  City's  truest  progress,  and,  in  connection  with 
them,  of  the  very  well-sustained  institutions  that 
evidence  the  abundant  interest  of  our  people  in  the 
relief  of  suffering,  misfortune  and  want — noble  insti- 
tutions that  stretch  forth  hands  of  benediction  over 
the  city,  and  the  mainspring  of  whose  vitality  and 
utility  is  in  the  warm  hearts,  earnest  faith  and  unstinted 
labor  of  sympathetic  woman.  Estimating,  however, 
at  the  highest  the  value  and  results  of  the  Peabody 
Institute  and  the  Hopkins  University,  we  may  still 
feel  that  by  reason  of  actual — it  may  be  necessary — 
limitations  there  are  large  classes  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  who  derive  from  these  great  endowments  a 


89 


general  rather  than  immediate  and  special  benefit. 
To  the  needs  of  these  the  free  school  and  Free  Library 
must  minister,  and  thoughtful  men  will  admit  that  the 
service  they  are  competent  to  render  touches  nearly 
and  certainly  the  interests  of  the  community  at  large. 
It  is  late  in  the  Say  to  argue  against  the  curse  of 
illiteracy  or  seek  to  prove  the  close  alliance  of 
icrnorance  and  vice.  We  do  not  sfo  back  to  the  dawn 
to  seek  the  source  of  light  with  the  sun  blazing  at 
meridian ;  and  while  it  would  be  folly  to  insist  that 
education  will  make  men  saints,  we  may  not  deny  its 
influence  in  the  formation  of  character  and  the 
more  intelligent  appreciation  and  maintenance  of 
civil  rights. 

If  it  stops  here  and  secures  only  these  results,  it 
has  done  much  for  the  common  good ;  but  it  goes 
further  and  accomplishes  more.  It  is  not  enough 
that  the  classes  to  which  I  refer  should  be  made  more 
intelligent  as  citizens:  they  should  be  made  happy 
as  men  ;  they,  too,  should  have  their  share  of  the  best. 
They  have  homes,  and  the  sanctities  of  the  fireside 
are  crowned  with  a  purer  influence,  and  the  ties  of 
family  unite  them  with  a  more  sacred  bond,  in  the 
degree  that  their  homes  are  made  attractive  and 
happy.  To  teach  them  and  their  children  to  read  is 
a  point  gained,  but  it  needs  to  be  supplemented  by 
something  to  read. 

Some   people   think    that    the  value   and    delight 


90 

of  books  are  a  sort  of  perquisite  of  the  more  fortunate 
classes,  just  as  others  assume  that  the  rich  alone  are 
tlie  helpers  of  the  poor.  They  are  mistaken  in  both 
conclusions.  The  instant  helpers  of  the  poor  are  the 
poor;  it  may  be  a  broken  crust  or  a  shared  fagot, 
but  so  it  is ;  and  by  none  is  a  suitable  book  more 
eagerly  grasped  than  by  those  who  are  unable  to  buy 
one.  There  are  faculties  and  aspirations  that  are 
God's  endowment  of  our  common  humanity,  and 
they  are  fortunate  co-workers  who  labor  to  lift  the 
veil  that  shrouds  and  pierce  the  environment  that 
clogs  their  development. 

In  view  of  the  dependence  and  interdependence 
of  human  relations,  it  is  always  well  that  wealth  and 
influence  should  regard  with  kindly  consideration  the 
classes  that  need  help ;  but  there  are  times  when  cir- 
cumstances emphasize  the  peculiar  wisdom  of  for- 
bearance and  justice.  I  open  no  discussion  and  enter 
into  no  details  inappropriate  to  the  occasion ;  but 
observant  men  cannot  fail  to  see  the  clouds  gathering 
on  the  horizon  and  hear  the  sounds  ominous  of 
storm,  or  to  realize  that  to-day  there  are  questions 
that  must  have  answer,  and  problems  for  which  safe 
solution  must  be  found. 

I  advocate,  further,  the  need  and  value  of  educa- 
tion in  connection  with  a  special  class  in  our  midst — 
a  large  and  meritorious  one,  worthy  of  help  because 
always  self-helping.     I  mean  our  mechanics ;  and  in 


91 

their  case,  the  higher  training  I  would  urge  gives 
promise  of  outcome  in  positive  relation  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  whole  community.  The  demand  of  the 
times  and  the  pressure  of  competition  require  that 
the  labor  of  these  artisans,  artificers,  operatives,  these 
workers  with  machinery  and  instruments,  should  be 
skilled'  labor,  and  their  training  should  be  special, 
direct  and  practical,  tending  to  their  systematic 
knowledge  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  the  indus- 
trial arts,  and  so  far  an  art  education  bearing  upon 
the  results  to  be  attained,  in  obedience  to  the  great 
principle  that  intelligence  is  the  most  important  ele- 
ment of  progress  in  every  department  of  industry. 
In  all  the  leading  European  nations,  concurrently  with 
the  mobilization  of  arn)ies  and  the  greed  of  conquest, 
spurred  by  pride  and  urged  in  the  interests  of  national 
aggrandizement,  an  earnest  struggle  is  being  made 
for  industrial  supremacy — the  great  prize  of  indus- 
trial education ;  and  this  struggle  enlists  the  gravest 
interest  of  statesmen  and  thinkers  alike,  because  they 
realize  that  national  wealth  and  prosperity  rest  on  the 
enlightened  employment  of  natural  products  and 
forces,  and  that  national  advancement  is  best  secured 
by  promoting  the  intellectual  development  of  their 
industrial  population.  Hence,  in  England,  Germany, 
France,  Belgium  and  elsewhere,  schools  for  special 
training  in  industrial  arts  are  constandy  muldplying, 
while  this  country,  with  a  people  keen,  capable  and 


92 


energetic,  and  a  wealth  of  natural  resources  almost 
incalculable,  has  scarcely  entered  into  the  great  com- 
petition. Herein  lies  the  unfulfilled  need  to  which  I 
before  referred.  Here  is  the  splendid  opportunity  for 
another  ofenerous  endowment.  We  need  an  indus- 
trial-art  school,  a  technological  institute,  wherein 
labor  may  be  trained  into  skill  and  skill  make  return 
in  profit  and  honor ;  wherein  our  young  men  may  be 
armed  for  contest  on  fair  terms  upon  the  field  of  this 
great  struggle,  and  women,  crushed  and  despondent 
under  the  burdens  of  life,  may  be  fitted  for  suitable 
occupations  in  which  industry  and  taste  will  lead  to 
reputation  and  emolument.  I  may  be  oversanguine, 
but  I  have  faith  in  my  idea,  and  I  have  abiding  confi- 
dence in  the  force  of  example.  Like  begets  like,  and 
great  endowments  for  noble  purposes  have  followed 
each  other  in  this  community  with  a  rapidity  for 
which  we  ourselves  were  hardly  prepared,  and  at  the 
hint  of  which  our  grandfathers  would  have  been 
smitten  with  great  amazement.  We  have  outlived 
the  day  and  the  thought  of  our  grandfathers. 

I  recall  occasions  when  I  was  present  at  conver- 
sations between  the  late  Johns  Hopkins  and  Mr. 
John  W.  Garrett — my  personal  relations  with  the 
latter  of  whom  for  many  years,  will  always  be  to  me 
matter  of  gratification  and  pride  —  one  of  which 
occurred  at  the  time  of  the  last  visit  of  George 
Peabody  to  the  Institute  he  had  so  generously  founded, 


93 

and  where  he  received  a  popular  ovation  honorable 
to  the  multitude  who  so  heartily  tendered  it,  and  the 
City  in  which  his  name  will  always  be  honored.     The 
conversation  naturally  turned  to  Mr.  Peabody — what 
he  had  done  and  the  deep  impression  made  by  his 
liberal  act;  and  T remember  Mr.  Garrett,  turning  to 
Mr.  Hopkins,  said :  "  You  will  have  to  do  something 
like  this  with  your  money.     You  are  a  bachelor,  and 
after  dealing  as  liberally  as  you  wish  for  every  one 
you  care  to  provide  for,  you  will  have  to  leave  a  great 
estate  behind  you  before  long.    You  will  have  to  think 
over  something  on  a  large  scale."      I  do  not  recall 
what  Mr.  Hopkins  said,  probably  because  he  made 
no  special  reply.     At  another   time,  when    I  talked 
over  with  Mr.  Garrett  the  affairs  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  for  whose  building  fund  I  was 
anxious  to  obtain  subscriptions,  and  to  the  agreement 
for  which  he  had  put  his  own  name  for  ten  thousand 
dollars,  he  said :  "  Now  you  go  and  talk  to  Mr.  Hop- 
kins— I  have  already  done  so — and  he  will  give  you 
something."     I  went,  and  he  subscribed    the    same 
sum.     Later,  I  learned  that  he  had  been  considering 
a  project  on  the  line  of  the  conversation  referred  to — 
the    establishment,  I  think,  of  a  line  of  steamers  to 
Brazil.     What  influence  other  than  that  Mr.  Garrett 
sedulously  brought  to  bear  suggested  the  great  uses 
to  which  he  finally  devoted  the  bulk  of  his  estate,  I 
do  not  know  ;  but  I  am  convinced  that  to  the  influence 


94 

of  his  old  friend  and  constant  adviser  we  are  largely 
indebted  for  the  ultimate  dedication  of  his  wealth, 
the  fruits  of  which  we  now,  and  generations  to  come, 
will  enjoy. 

So  much  for  personal  influence  and  the  value  of 
example.  And  let  us  not  forget  that  when  the 
friendly  adviser  came  to  deal  with  his  own  wealth, 
and,  full  of  years  and  crowned  with  honor,  prepared 
to  lay  it  down — that  while  he  fulfilled  all  the  obliga- 
tions of  family,  he  made  princely  provision  for  wise 
and  benevolent  uses  by  an  unrestricted  bequest  of 
six  thousand  dollars  every  year  to  the  Poor  Associa- 
tion of  the  city,  and  a  gift  of  $50,000  to  be  dispensed 
annually  for  "  charitable,  educational  and  other  pur- 
poses of  public  utility,  calculated  to  promote  the 
happiness,  usefulness  and  progress  of  society" — and 
this  magnificent  provision  not  limited  to  the  present 
generation,  but  running  on  to  the  grandchildren  of 
the  giver. 

Passing  for  a  moment  from  what  has  been  accom- 
plished in  our  midst  upon  these  lines  of  special  and 
general  education,  and  the  enlarged  benefits  to  which 
we  may  reasonably  look  in  the  near  future,  I  would 
say  a  word,  before  closing,  of  the  incalculable  value, 
sovereign  influence  and  exquisite  delight  of  books; 
how  they  store  the  chambers  of  memory  and 
strengthen  the  fibres  of  mind ;  how  they  bridge  the 
chasms  of  the  past,  illumine  the  present  and  mould 


95 

the  future;  and  how  with  them  we  pass  from  the 
vagueness  of  tradition  into  the  Hght  of  history,  grow 
familiar  with  the  greatness  of  individual  lives,  the 
crystallizations  of  society,  the  growth  and  decadence 
of  organized  empire,  the  convulsions  of  war  and  the 
arts  of  peace ;  and,  tracing  the  flow  and  reflux  of 
civilization  and  progress,  see  its  long-fretted  and 
obstructed  current  widen  into  the  assured  breadth  and 
sweep  of  this,  its  century  of  triumphant  development. 
Only  by  retrospection  and  introspection  do  we  con- 
ceive adequately  how  much  we  owe  to  these  multi- 
form digests  of  the  experience  and  thought  of  time 
and  the  world — these  full  arsenals  to  which  we  go 
alike  for  the  weapons  that  arm  us  for  the  conflicts,  and 
the  contentment  that  soothes  us  in  the  disappointments 
of  life. 

Doubtless  there  are  worthless  and  dangerous 
books  that  tempt  the  unwary  and  mislead  the  weak  ; 
that  build  up  false  philosophies  and  inculcate  evil 
morals;  that  degrade  science  by  the  assumptions  of 
ignorance,  and  dishonor  religion  by  the  bitterness  of 
dogmatism;  that  touch  with  doubting  finger  the 
holiest  shrines  of  faith,  and  sap  the  securest  founda- 
tions of  society ;  but  where  the  few  infuse  the  poison 
the  many  bring  the  antidote,  and  to-day  we  go  to  the 
printed  book  for  the  overthrow  of  error,  rather  than 
to  the  limited  refutation  of  the  pulpit  or  the  ephem- 
eral discussion  of  the  rostrum. 


96 

The  complete  library  ministers  to  all  wants,  satisfies 
all  tastes,  meets  all  inquiries.  It  is  the  cosmos  of 
mind,  the  epitome  of  knowledge.  It  aids  the  pro- 
foundest  thinker,  and  stimulates  the  simplest  reader. 
It  gives  the  politician  the  principles  and  examples  of 
statesmanship,  inflames  the  ardor  and  illustrates  the 
nobility  of  patriotism.  With  its  "gift  of  tongues  "  it 
speaks  in  all  languages  to  all  nationalities.  In  it 
imagination  finds  exaltation,  and  labor  learns  skill. 
There  are  the  flaming  chariots  of  genius  and  the 
white  sails  of  adventure,  and  there  are  revealed  the 
majestic  procession  of  natural  forces  and  the  omni- 
present laws  of  divine  control. 

Upon  books  rest  the  promise  and  security  of  all 
progress,  material,  intellectual,  religious;  of  all 
science,  invention,  art ;  of  all  rights,  government 
order;  of  all  convenience, comfort, happiness  ;  and  so, 
touching  each  arc  of  the  rounded  circle  of  personal, 
political  and  social  life,  with  them  all  possibilities  of 
civilization  await  us  in  the  future,  while  without  them 
man's  lapse  into  barbarism,  though  gradual,  would  be 
sure. 

And  now,  sir  (addressing  Mr.  Pratt),  there  is  left 
me  the  great  pleasure  of  uniting  with  the  mass  of 
your  fellow-citizens  in  expressing  the  general  appre- 
ciation of  your  noble  act,  that,  while  illustrating  your 
high  and  unselfish  spirit,  shows  that  you  have  met 
with  warm  sympathy  and  wise  prevision  one  of  the 


97 


great  needs  of  our  people,  and  have  very  wisely 
carried  out  your  purpose  while  living.  I  do  not 
doubt  that  the  successful  and  beneficent  working  of 
your  Library  will  be  a  source  of  great  happiness  to 
you  in  the  many  years  we  all  hope  you  will  continue 
to  realize  it,  with  the  added  satisfaction  of  anticipating 
the  blessing  it  will  prove  to  multitudes  who  will 
succeed  those  who  now  applaud  you ;  to  be  enhanced, 
I  trust,  by  the  pleasant  consciousness  that  others, 
affected  by  your  example,  have  also  entered  these 
lists  of  honor. 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  FERDINAND  C.  LA  TROBE, 
EX- MA  YOR  OF  BAL  TIMORE. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — In  presenting  a  free  library 
to  the  city,  Mr.  Pratt  has  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  he  will  give  pleasure,  instruction  and  knowledge 
not  only  to  his  fellow-citizens,  but  to  all  those  who  will 
live  here  after  us.  He  will  know  that  the  people  are 
bettered  by  his  liberality,  that  he  adds  another  to  our 
monuments — not  an  inspiring  shaft  of  marble,  or 
statue  of  bronze,  commemorating  fame  or  patriotism, 
but  a  storehouse  from  whose  shelves  will  flow  that 
knowledge  which,  with  mercy,  is  "  like  the  gentle 
rain  from  heaven,  blessing  him  who  gives  and  him 
who  takes."  The  stream  for  which  he  has  furnished 
the  inexhaustible  supply  will  continue  through  coming 
generations,  who  will  remember  his  name  as  long  as 
Baltimore  does  last.  If  I  may  be  permitted  to  say  it 
in  his  presence,  the  wisdom,  shrewdness  and  business 
sagacity  which  enable  him  to  exercise  this  liberality 
are  indicated  by  the  fact  that  it  is  not  a  post-mortem 
bequest,  but  given  in  that  full  tide  of  life  and  health 
which  we  hope  he  may  long  enjoy,  and  when  he  can 
himself  witness  some  of  those  blessings  which  we  are 
told  belong  more  to  the  giver  than  to  the  recipient. 
The  acquisition  of  large  wealth  is  no  easy  matter,  or 


99 

more  of  us  would  have  it ;  it  represents  labor,  industry, 
energy,  tact,  economy,  and  a  little  of  what  is  called 
good  fortune,  or,  at  least,  opportunity.  Being  difficult 
to  win,  it  is  generally  hard  to  willingly  part  with.  One 
power  alone  absolutely  takes  it  away — death.  There- 
fore, he  who  gives  without  that  final  compulsion,  gives 
freely,' and,  by  witnessing  the  good  resulting  from  his 
gift,  secures  at  least  a  personal  gratification  from  his 
own  liberality.  We  desire  that  Mr.  Pratt  may  fully 
realize  how  much  his  gift  to  Baltimore  is  appreciated. 
That  the  Library  will  be  of  practical  benefit  there  is  no 
doubt.  Each  year  demonstrates  the  advantages  of 
free  public  education.  The  yearning  for  learning 
is  engrafted  in  the  nature  of  American  citizens. 
Believing  in  the  equality  of  the  people,  insisting  that 
no  man  or  woman  is  confined  by  birth  to  one  class  of 
society — in  other  words,  that  "  all  men  are  born  free 
and  equal" — and  having  won  the  acknowledgment  of 
these,  as  we  claim  natural,  rights,  we  know  they  can 
be  withheld  only  by  force  of  arms  or  loss  of  educated 
intelligence.  The  former  we  do  not  fear,  and  the 
latter,  far  more  dangerous,  we  are  determined  to 
guard  against.  It  is  admitted  by  wise  statesmen 
that  political  liberty  rests  upon  the  foundation-stone 
of  free  public  education.  The  free  schoolhouse  is, 
therefore,  regarded  as  a  necessity  with  those  who  love 
republican  institutions,  and  the  people  submit  without 
murmuring   to  heavy  taxation  for   its  maintenance. 


100 

But  the  schoolhouse  is  only  on  the  threshold  of  the 
temple  of  knowledge.  What  those  who  have  left  the 
school-desk  require  is  books  to  make  available  the 
desire  for  knowledge  acquired  in  the  public  school — 
free  books  within  the  reach  of  every  one  of  the  40,000 
children  who  annually  attend  the  public  schools  of 
Baltimore.  We  give  with  free  education  free  books 
for  tuition,  but  we  had  no  Free  Library  to  furnish  the 
necessary  supplement  for  that  necessity,  "  free  schools." 
It  is  this  Free  Library  that  Mr.  Enoch  Pratt  has  given 
us,  at  a  cost  of  over  one  million  dollars.  For  it,  this 
large  audience,  representing  the  intelligence  and 
patriotism  of  Baltimore,  has  assembled  to  say,  "  Mr. 
Pratt,  we  thank  you." 


ADDRESS  OF  DR.   LEWIS  H.  STEIN ER, 
LIBRARIAN. 


Ladies  and  (gentlemen: — Your  presence  at  the 
opening  exercises  of  the  Free  Library  shows  your 
appreciation  of  the  advantages  which  are  expected  to 
be  derived  from  its  estabhshment,  and  how  grateful 
you  feel  towards  the  generous  founder  whose  name 
it  iDears.  I  congratulate  you,  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
and  Mr.  Pratt,  that,  the  days  of  preparation  being 
over,  on  the  morrow  the  doors  of  the  Central  Library 
will  be  thrown  open  to  every  anxious  seeker  after 
knowledge,  without  respect  to  rank,  condition  or  color, 
and  that  all  will  have  the  opportunity,  then  and  thence- 
forth, to  avail  themselves  of  the  constantly  increasing 
number  of  silent  instructors  which  will  be  at  the  dis- 
posal of  every  one  in  this  people's  university.  I  con- 
gratulate you,  citizens  of  Baltimore,  on  the  introduction 
of  another  instrumentality  for  the  increase  and  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge  and  culture  in  your  midst,  in  addi- 
tion to  those  that  have  of  late  years  so  largely  con- 
tributed to  the  reputation  of  the  City.  And  I  trust 
that  I  may  also  be  allowed  to  felicitate  myself  upon 
this  formal  establishment  of  such  relations  with  you  as 
will  enable  me  to  execute  the  high  trust  committed  to 
me,  so  as  to  secure  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest 
number  of  the  community. 


102 

"  Ideas  once  generated  live  forever,"  says  an  old 
writer.  But,  in  order  that  these  may  undergo  normal 
development  and  healthy  growth,  they  must  be 
planted  in  favorable  soil  and  supplied  with  such  ex- 
ternal conditions  as  will  insure  the  fullest  develop- 
ment of  their  possibilities  and  potentialities.  So  long 
as  the  brilliant  conceptions  of  genius  remain  locked 
up  in  the  brains  of  their  authors,  so  long  as  the  sug- 
gestion of  a  new  application  of  the  forces  of  Nature 
lingers  concealed  in  the  mind  of  the  inventor,  so  long 
as  a  profound  thought  is  kept  from  contact  with  the 
active,  busy  world  of  thinkers,  inventors  and  practical 
men  who  may  make  it  useful,  so  long  it  is  but  a  life- 
less seed,  unable  to  grow,  develop  and  bear  rich  fruit. 
Hence  the  necessity  for  some  means  of  communi- 
cating the  thoughts  of  others  so  as  to  make  them  the 
common  property  of  mankind.  They  must  be  placed 
where  they  can  contribute  to  the  good  of  the  race,  and 
be  supplied  with  the  conditions  that  will  allow  them 
to  furnish  perennial  proof  of  the  undying  life  they 
possess. 

Before  the  invention  of  printing,  efforts  were  made 
to  accomplish  this  by  oral  communication,  or  by  the 
slow  written  multiplication  of  statements  of  the  truths 
that  man,  having  discovered,  was  willing  to  make  the 
common  property  of  his  fellow-man.  The  former  was 
a  very  unreliable  method  of  securing  accuracy  of 
transmission,  and  the  latter  cumbrous  and  expensive  ; 


103 

but  when  printing  was  discovered,  then  the  thoughts 
of  the  wise  were  enshrined  in  a  permanent  shape  that 
might  be  seized  and  appropriated  as  his  own  by  whom- 
soever it  was  appreciatively  read  and  lovingly  taken 
to  heart.  The  readers  of  books,  necessarily,  at  first 
were  a  very  limited  class,  and  were  disposed  to  con- 
ceal themselves  modestly  from  a  world  which  was 
busied  with  agriculture,  commerce,  war,  and  the  intri- 
cate stratagems  that  seem  inseparable  from  monarchical 
governments.  But  the  people  began  to  thirst  after 
some  of  the  intellectual  enjoyment  that  seemed  pecu- 
liar to  this  class.  They  grew  restive  under  the  yoke 
of  slavery.  The  heaven-born  aspirations  implanted 
in  every  human  breast  impelled  them  to  pry  into  the 
mysteries  of  knowledge,  to  seek  for  the  key  tliat 
would  unlock  its  storehouses,  to  make  an  acquaint- 
ance with  those  great  ideas,  truths,  and  even  facts, 
which  were  apparently  stored  away  in  printed  pages. 
Students  sprang  up  from  all  classes  of  society — 
largely,  be  it  said,  with  laudable  pride,  from  the 
masses  rather  than  the  nobility ;  ideas  that  had  lain 
dormant  began  to  swell  with  a  4ife  that  brought  prac- 
tical science  and  invention  to  the  front ;  the  test  of 
practical  worth,  rather  than  that  of  accidental  asso- 
ciation or  unavoidable  descent,  began  to  be  applied 
to  men,  and  the  race  actually  started  out  on  a  new 
course  with  a  life  and  energy  never  dreamed  of  before 
by  its  most  hopeful  sons. 


104 

The  ministry  of  books  had  been  invoked.  The  art 
that  Faust  and  Gutenberg  and  Koster  had  given  to 
mankind  was  now  enlisted  in  the  service  of  human 
advancement.  From  cloister  and  cell,  where  truths 
had  been  carefully  stored  away  for  centuries  in 
precious  manuscripts,  knowledge  came  forth  and  was 
lovingly  greeted  by  those  who  had  longed  for  an 
acquaintance  with  its  treasures.  The  brotherhood  of 
man  and  the  equality  of  all  the  sons  of  men  before 
the  law  then  began  to  assert  themselves  as  truths  of 
primeval  origin  which  had  been  lying  dormant  through 
countless  ages.  There  was  restlessness  under  despot- 
ism, and  dissatisfaction  with  government  not  spring- 
ing from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  These  grew 
and  strengthened  until  they  asserted  themselves  here 
in  their  mightiest  form — in  the  establishment  of  a 
republic  where  each  should  stand  the  equal  of  the 
other,  and  worth  alone  should  be  entitled  to  the 
respect  and  reverence  that  had  been  previously  paid 
to  circumstances  which  were  accidents  in  the  indi- 
vidual. 

If  we  would  be  true  to  our  duty  and  properly  grate- 
ful for  the  blessings  which  the  printed  page  has 
brought  to  us  and  our  homes,  we  must  strive  to  bring 
the  ministry  of  books  to  our  fellow-men.  This  is 
acknowledged  by  the  advocates  of  popular  education 
on  all  sides.  Hence  the  public,  when  it  is  sufficiently 
enlightened  to  understand  the  subject,  submits  cheer- 


105 

fully  to  a  fair  taxation,  in  order  that  schools  may  be 
established  for  all  classes,  and  the  blessings  of  rudi- 
mentary education  may  be  made  as  free  as  the  air  of 
heaven  or  the  water  of  the  sea.  In  this  city,  under 
wise  and  prudent  educators,  a  system  of  public  schools 
has  been  established  and  developed,  until  it  now  occu- 
pies the  proud  position  of  being  among  the  best  in 
the  United  States.  But  its  advantages  only  arouse 
and  stimulate  a  thirst  for  knowledge  which  must  be 
satisfied  in  some  other  way.  Those  who  have  com- 
pleted the  requisite  curriculum  of  the  schools  can  no 
longer  rest  contented  with  the  ^tiasz-YegQt2.t\ve  life 
that  satisfies  him  who  is  altogether  devoid  of  intellect- 
ual culture  ;  those  who  have  been  allowed  only  a  taste 
at  the  Pierian  spring  will — if  opportunity  is  but 
allowed  them — hasten  forward  to  drink  deeper  and 
still  deeper  draughts  of  life-giving  knowledge. 

Where  shall  such  opportunities  be  secured  ?  How 
shall  the  wants  of  the  masses,  first  excited  and  devel- 
oped in  the  schools,  be  supplied  ?  It  is  not  only  the 
favored  student  who  has,  in  college  or  university,  sat 
under  the  teachings  of  mature  wisdom,  that  feels  the 
need  of  the  ministry  of  books  when  his  days  of  pupil- 
age are  over.  His  humbler  and  less  favored  brother 
has  the  same  earnest  longing  and  seeks  the  same 
relief.  Here  the  value  of  a  free  public  library  asserts 
itself.  It  brings  to  the  people  the  opportunity  of  sup- 
plementing  whatever   knowledge    may   have    been 


106 

acquired  in   the  schools  with  the  glowing  thoughts 
and  burninof  words  of  the  best  writers  and  Qrreatest 
thinkers.     It  places  every  one  on  a  broad  platform  of 
eiemocratic  equality  such  as  only  has  a  right  to  any 
recognition  in  the  republic  of  letters.     It  is  the  true 
people's  university,  where  all  may  read,  learn,  imbibe 
and  appropriate  the  results  of  the  thought  and  study 
of  those  who  have  occupied  chairs  of  instruction  in 
the   higher    schools,    and    such   as   have    unselfishly 
devoted  their  lives  to  extending  the  boundaries   of 
knowledge.     The   free  library  and  the  learned  uni- 
versity have  the  same  ultimate  objects  in  view — viz.: 
the  elevation  of  the  race,  its  advancement  along  the 
lines  of  culture,  and  its  progressive  victory  over  the 
trammels  of  Time  and  Nature.     They  dare  not  antag- 
onize.    Each  must  assist  and  help  the  other.     Even 
now,  as  in  the  enthusiastic  glow  that  animates  us  at 
the  inauguration  of  the  one  which  we  hope  will  be  of 
priceless  value  to  Baltimore,  we  dare  not  forget  that 
the  other — inaugurated  not  quite  ten  years  ago  in 
this  very  Academy,  and  whose  faculty  honors  these 
ceremonies  with  their  presence — has  never  been  con- 
tent with  the  mere  attainment  of  recognition  from  the 
learned  world,  but  has  always  been  ready  to  aid  in 
any  enterprise  promising  to  benefit  popular  culture  in 
the  City  where  it  is  located.     Long  may  they  labor, 
each  in  its  own  sphere,  for  the  diffusion  of  the  bless- 
ings of  human  knowledge ! 


107 

Fellow-citizens,  the  temptation  to  speak  more  at 
length  is  great,  but  I  must  close.  A  few  words  more 
and  the  part  assigned  to  me  will  have  been  performed. 
On  to-morrow — Tuesday — morning,  the  issue  of  books 
at  the  Central  Library,  to  those  who  have  secured 
library  cards,  will  take  place,  to  continue,  we  hope,  as 
long  as  the  City  endures.  The  Library  practically 
belongs  to  the  citizens  of  Baltimore.  The  preserva- 
tion of  its  books  from  injury  is  an  object  of  impor- 
tance to  every  citizen.  We  invoke  your  assistance  in 
this  regard.  You  have  already  shown  scrupulous 
care  of  the  beautiful  shrubbery  and  flowers  that  adorn 
your  public  squares.  May  we  not  expect  still  greater 
care  in  reference  to  the  buildings  and  books  that  have 
been  so  generously  donated  for  your  use  and  that  of 
your  children  ? 

Twenty  thousand  volumes  have  been  collected  for 
the  Central  Library ;  twelve  thousand  more  will  be 
placed,  within  a  few  weeks,  on  the  shelves  of  its 
branches.  Yearly  additions  will  be  made  to  these. 
Starting  under  auspicious  circumstances,  may  we  not 
trust  that  this  Library  and  its  branches  shall,  under  the 
enlightened  and  wise  management  of  its  Trustees,  with 
the  blessing  of  that  kind  Providence  who  placed  the 
thought  of  establishing  it  in  the  heart  of  the  founder, 
be  the  means  of  making  our  City  and  our  State  wiser, 
greater  and  better,  and  that  future  generations  will 
bless  the  name  of  him  who  so  bountifully  provided  for 
the  intellectual  wants  of  his  fellow-men  ? 


THE  CENTRAL  LIBRARY  BUILDING. 


The  Main  or  Central  Library  Building  is  situated 
on  Mulberry  near  Cathedral  street.  It  (together  with 
the  four  Branch  Buildings)  was  designed  and  the 
construction  superintended  by  Mr.  Chas.  L.  Carson, 
architect.  It  has  a  frontage  of  eighty-two  feet,  and  a 
depth  of  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  to  a  twenty-foot 
alley,  and  is  thoroughly  fire-proof  in  construction 
throughout.  The  building  is  treated  in  the  bold 
Romanesque  style,  with  its  characteristic  semicircular 
forms,  relief  mouldings,  enriched  carvings  and  embel- 
lishments. The  facade,  from  the  ground  line  to  and 
including  the  cornice,  is  constructed  of  Baltimore 
County  white  marble,  tool-dressed  to  an  even  surface, 
with  polished  granite  pillars  and  pilasters  supporting 
arched  windows.  In  the  centre  of  the  front  a  tower 
rises  to  the  height  of  ninety-eight  feet,  and  clearly 
designates  and  marks  the  main  entrance,  vestibule 
and  staircase  hall.  On  each  side  of  this  tower  are 
clustered  three  large  semicircular-headed  windows, 
over  which,  and  in  line  with  the  second  floor,  there  is 
an  enriched  moulded  cornice.  Above  this  point  the  two 
wings  (east  and  west)  are  treated  differently  as  to 
arrangement  of  openings.  The  east  wing  being  three 
stories,  and  the  west  wing  but  two  stories  in  height 


.  Vnfiona^  iiuntviLo/  fSn^mtv^  J^£fj,^i. 


(G  ih::  ::^^''jr)[U:i^)L    jlk  ]ifi  ji^j^viuj^v 


109 


and  they  are  designed  so  as  to  come  within  one  level 
cornice  line  at  the  roof,  thereby  presenting  even- 
ness of  sky  lines  broken  only  by  the  tower.  In  the 
upper  story  of  the  tower  there  is  an  artistically  carved 
allegorical  panel  in  bas-relief  representing  History, 
and  in  the  east  and  west  wings  on  each  side  of  the 
towef,  in  spandrels  formed  by  the  circular  window- 
heads,  there  are  five  medallion  full-relief  busts  of 
eminent  authors  and  artists,  modelled  and  carved  out 
of  Italian  statuary  marble.  Other  appropriate  enrich- 
ments are  introduced  in  proper  places,  and  evenly 
distributed  throughout  the  building,  which,  with  the 
general  treatment  and  outline,  are  designed  to  pro- 
duce a  feeling  of  earnestness  and  repose. 

The  building  is  entered  by  a  large  centre  doorway  ten 
feet  wide.  Heavy  carved  oaken  doors,  the  inner  pair 
having  cathedral  glass  in  large  panels,  swing  back,  dis- 
closing exquisite  tints  in  enamel  tiles,  which  cover  the 
walls  above  the  wainscoting,  in  buff,  blue,  chocolate, 
white,  black  and  brown.  The  floor  of  the  vestibule  is 
laid  with  marble  in  black  and  white.  The  wainscoting 
is  of  Tennessee  and  Vermont  marbles,  principally  of 
a  dove-color.  A  graceful  arch  of  Cheat  River  blue 
sandstone  faces  the  entrance,  supported  by  two 
columns  of  Tennessee  marble,  of  the  tint  known  as 
"  maiden's  blush."  The  bases  of  the  columns  are  of 
black  Irish  marble.  The  stairway  of  marble  is  broad 
and  easy,  and  is  constructed  of  Italian  treads  and 


110 

maiden's-blush  risers,  upon  a  framework  of  iron.  The 
balustrade  is  massive,  but  in  excellent  proportions. 
The  balusters  are  of  bronze,  with  a  mahogany  rail. 
The  newel-post  is  a  block  of  dove-colored  marble,  from 
which  rises  an  elegant  bronze  gas  fixture. 

The  room  to  the  right,  thirty  feet  square  and  twenty 
feet  high,  is  for  the  delivery  of  books.  This  room  is 
the  one  most  frequented  by  the  people,  and  the  one 
where  borrowers  must  wait  till  the  books  called  for 
can  be  brought  from  the  shelves  and  charged  to  them. 
It  is  provided  with  an  open  fireplace,  and  a  large 
heated  ventilating  flue,  four  feet  by  fourteen  inches, 
runs  directly  through  to  the  roof  in  an  inner  wall,  to 
keep  the  air  pure  during  the  business  hours  of  the 
day.  A  counter  runs  the  entire  length  of  the  room. 
The  floor  is  of  marble,  the  woodwork  of  old  oak  with 
antique  chimneypieces,  etc.  A  window  for  books 
and  a  door  for  attendants  open  into  the  large  book 
room  behind,  and  a  small  lift  extends  to  the  upper 
stories  for  ready  and  safe  transit  of  books. 

On  the  left  of  the  vestibule  is  another  room,  of  the 
same  size,  for  the  return  of  books,  finished  in  the 
same  style  and  of  the  same  materials.  This  room 
is  also  connected  with  the  great  book  rooms  and  with 
the  delivery  room.  Behind  these  front  rooms  are  the 
two  large  book  rooms,  arranged  one  above  the  other 
in  two  half  stories,  each  room  seventy-five  feet  long, 
thirty-seven  feet  wide,  and  nine  feet  high,  the  building 


Ill 

being  drawn  in  twenty  feet  on  each  side  to  furnish 
light  and  air.  Shelves  crossing  each  of  these  rooms 
from  east  to  west  divide  it  into  fifteen  alcoves  five 
feet  wide,  and  every  alcove  is  lighted  by  a  window  at 
each  end  of  it.  Passageways  three  feet  wide  run 
north  and  soHth  alono-  the  walls  and  throupfh  the 
centre  of  the  rooms.  No  books  are  placed  on  the 
outer  walls.  The  two  stories  are  connected  by  iron 
stairs  and  lifts  for  the  easy  and  rapid  transmission  of 
books  to  the  delivery  room.  The  floors  of  both  book 
rooms  are  laid  with  iron  plates,  and  the  windows 
provided  with  iron  shutters  on  the  inside.  These 
rooms  will  hold  1 50,000  volumes.  At  the  top  of  the 
marble  stairway,  in  the  vestibule,  is  a  spacious  hall, 
paved  and  wainscoted  with  marble,  and  lighted  by  a 
large  window  of  stained  glass.  In  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  second  story  on  Mulberry  street  is  a 
suite  of  rooms  for  the  Trustees,  consisting  of  a  large 
meeting-room,  a  smaller  committee  room,  and  suitable 
offices. 

But  the  grand  feature  of  the  building  is  the 
reading-room.  It  is  placed  in  the  second  story, 
directly  over  the  two  book  rooms  and  at  the  head  of 
the  grand  stairway,  and  is  seventy-five  feet  long, 
thirty-seven  feet  wide  and  twenty-five  feet  high.  The 
walls  are  frescoed  in  buff  and  pale  green  tints,  the 
ceiling  is  heavily  panelled,  with  rich  gilt  moulding 
tracing  the  cornice,  the  wainscoting  is  of  Lisbon,  Irish 


112 

and  Tennessee  marble,  the  floor  is  inlaid  with  cherry, 
pine  and  oak,  and  over  the  windows  are  circular 
transoms  in  stained  glass  bearing  the  portraits  of 
Bryant,  Pope,  Scott,  Dante,  Moliere,  Byron,  Goethe, 
Shakespeare,  Schiller  and  Milton.  Eight  pure  brass 
gas  fixtures,  two  with  twelve  burners  and  the  others 
with  six,  afford  a  brilliant  light.  There  are  ten  large 
windows — five  on  each  side — set  five  feet  from  the 
floor  to  admit  a  flood  of  light  from  above — the  most 
agreeable  light  possible  for  reading.  It  is  provided 
with  two  larofe  ventilating  flues  to  secure  a  constant 
supply  of  pure  air,  even  when  the  room  shall  be 
occupied  by  the  250  readers  that  it  will  accommo- 
date. A  long  desk  is  placed  in  the  south-east  corner 
of  the  room,  near  the  entrance  door.  This  desk  is 
connected  by  a  stairway  with  the  book  rooms  below, 
and  by  a  door  with  another  large  book  room  directly 
over  the  delivery  room.  This  latter  room  is  situated 
in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  building,  on  the  Mul- 
berry street  front,  is  thirty  feet  square,  is  divided  into 
two  stories  of  nine  feet  each,  and  will  hold  50,000 
volumes.  While  this  room  is  designed  especially  to 
accommodate  the  reading-room  which  adjoins  it,  and 
will  contain  maps,  books  of  reference,  and  such  other 
works  as  will  be  most  used  in  that  room,  it  is  rendered 
conveniently  accessible  by  stairs  and  a  lift  to  the 
delivery  room  below  it.  Space  is  thus  provided  for 
the  safe  and  convenient  storage  of  200,000  volumes 


113 

of  books.  Besides  these  four  rooms,  there  are  two 
others  in  the  basement  that  can  be  fitted  with  shelves 
in  case  of  need,  and  the  walls  of  the  Librarian's  room 
and  the  work  room  can  be  lined  with  them.  Ample 
accommodation  will  thus  be  afforded  for  250,000 
volumes,  but'  the  building  was  planned  for  only 
20Cf,ooo  volumes ;  and  this  number  its  three  book 
rooms  will  hold  without  crowding. 

North  of  the  reading-room  and  the  two  principal 
book  rooms  the  building  again  expands  for  twenty 
feet  into  a  width  of  seventy-six  feet,  and  extends 
back  to  a  twenty-foot  alley.  This  portion  of  the 
edifice  contains  the  janitor's  apartments ;  a  room  for 
receiving  and  unpacking  the  boxes  of  new  books, 
and  for  packing  and  sending  off  books  to  the  Branch 
Libraries ;  a  room  for  repairing  books  injured  by  use  ; 
a  work  room  for  recording  and  cataloguing  new  books, 
and  preparing  them  for  the  shelves;  a  Librarian's 
room ;  separate  lavatories  and  other  offices  for  male 
and  female  attendants ;  a  large  chimney  to  be  utilized 
in  ventilation;  stairways  (of  iron),  and  a  large  lift  ex- 
tending from  the  cellar  up  through  all  the  stories.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  reading-room  occupies  the  centre 
of  the  lot,  and  is  separated  both  from  Mulberry  street 
and  the  back  alley  by  the  wider  intervening  parts  of  the 
building.  It  is  thus  removed  from  the  noise  of  both 
streets — an  important  gain  for  undisturbed  reading 
and   quiet    study.     This  Library  Building  has  been 


114 

planned  with  the  utmost  care,  after  long  and  careful 
study  of  the  needs  of  such  a  structure  and  the  con- 
veniences required  in  it,  and  after  an  examination  and 
study  of  the  important  libraries  of  the  world.  The 
aim  has  been  to  provide  storage  for  200,000  volumes 
of  books ;  to  render  these  volumes  easily  accessible 
to  the  delivery  room,  to  the  returning  room  and  to 
the  reading-room ;  to  provide  a  convenient,  comfort- 
able, light,  cheerful  and  healthful  reading-room,  with 
accommodations  for  not  less  than  200  readers,  and 
to  provide  all  other  rooms  necessary  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  borrowers  of  books,  the  Trustees,  the 
Librarian,  the  janitor,  and  all  the  attendants  of  both 
sexes  required  in  such  an  establishment ;  rooms  for 
the  reception  of  new  books,  and  for  the  transfer  of 
books  to  and  from  the  Branches. 


THE  BRANCH  BUILDINGS. 


The  four  Branch  Buildings  are  located  in  the  north- 
western, southwestern,  southern  and  extreme  eastern 
portions  of  the  City,  and  are  of  uniform  architecture. 
They  are  each  forty  by  seventy  feet,  one  story  in  height ; 
with  a  high,  well  lighted  basement ;  are  built  of  Bal- 
timore pressed  brick  laid  with  red  mortar,  with  buft 
Dorchester  stone  trimmings.  The  style  of  architecture 
is  Romanesque;  the  treatment  bold  and  striking. 
The  elaborate  terra-cotta  moulded  panels,  the  quaint 
high  peaked  slate  roof  with  "  eye-brow  "  windows, 
though  not  so  imposing  as  the  Central  Building,  yet 
being  unique  in  general  appearance,  they  present  a 
pleasing  architectural  feature  in  the  different  localities 
where  situated.  The  location  of  each  has  been  care- 
fully studied  ;  and  the  buildings  being  on  prominent 
thoroughfares  and  at  the  intersection  of  streets,  will 
continue  to  be  prominent  landmarks,  and  reflect  the 
sagacity  of  the  founder,  who  not  only  provided 
the  citizens  of  Baltimore  with  the  best  and  most 
carefully  selected  reading  matter,  but  brought  it  to 
their  very  doors.  These  buildings  have  a  large  hall, 
with  one  high  open-timbered  story  finished  to  the  roof. 
At  the  end  of  this  hall  is  the  counter  for  issuing  and 
receiving  books.    Opening  into  this  is  a  large  reading 


116 

room ;  the  partition  of  opaque  glass  above  the  wains- 
coting separating  the  two,  extending  only  to  the  height 
of  the  square  of  the  building,  allowing  free  circulation 
of  air  and  light.  The  reading-room  is  finished  in  light 
wood,  and  amply  lighted  and  ventilated.  The  book 
room  (with  shelving  for  fifteen  thousand  volumes),  and 
the  Librarian's  work  room,  etc.,  etc.,  occupy  the  rear 
end  of  the  building.  In  the  interior  finish — of  hard 
wood — and  the  decorations,  the  harmony  of  colors 
used,  the  enamelled  brick  interior  of  the  vestibule, 
the  stained  glass  windows,  antique  brass  gas  fixtures, 
etc.,  the  Branch  Buildings  are  especially  well  adapted 
to  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  designed,  and  an 
atmosphere  of  quiet  comfort  and  repose  pervades 
their  precincts  that  is  particularly  attractive  to  the 
student  or  the  lover  of  good  literature.  A  supply  of 
periodicals  is  kept  at  the  Branches,  and  the  reading 
room  is  furnished  with  the  latest  lexicons,  encyclo- 
paedias, and  other  books  of  general  reference. 


A  SKETCH  OF  THE  FOUNDER. 


Enoch  Pratt  was  born  in  North  Middleborough, 
Massachusetts,  September  loth,  1808.  He  is  the  son 
of  Isaac  and  Naomi  (Keith)  Pratt.  His  father's  record, 
and  that  of  his  ancestors,  is  well  known  in  the  North. 
He  graduated  at  Bridgewater  Academy  at  the  age  of 
fifteen.  Two  weeks  before  he  closed  his  term  at  the 
Academy,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  an  intimate  friend  of 
his  family  in  Boston  to  obtain  for  him  as  soon  as 
possible  a  good  place  in  a  wholesale  dry  goods 
house.     He  said :  "  I  suspect  that  I  am  old  enough 

to  do  considerable  business The    preceptor 

thinks  that  I  am My  school  will  be  out  in  a 

fortnight,  and  I  do  not  want  to  stay  at  home  long 
after  it  is  out."  A  position  was  soon  secured  for  him 
in  a  first-class  house  in  Boston,  where  he  remained 
until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  In  this  place  he 
had  the  benefits  of  the  old-fashioned  traininpf  in 
business  peculiar  to  Boston,  and  the  influence  of  the 
examples  of  good  men  to  aid  him  in  developing  those 
traits  of  character  which  have  distinguished  him  from 
boyhood  to  manhood,  and  through  life.  His  un- 
exceptionable habits  and  tireless  application  to  busi- 
ness ;  his  quick  perception    of  what  was  right  and 


118 

what  waa  wrong,  and  his  undeviating  integrity ;  the 
simpHcity  of  his  method,  and  his  unbounded  confidence 
in  the  principles  of  common  sense,  and  in  the  results 
of  legitimate  industry,  gave  him  an  early  reputation 
for  sound  judgment  of  far  greater  value  than  the 
possession  of  money  as  a  capital,  with  its  dangerous 
tendency  to  mislead  in  the  choice  of  doubtful  projects 
of  speculation.  The  slow  and  sure  methods  of  acqui- 
sition afford  the  most  profitable  information  in  respect 
to  the  fundamental  laws  of  trade  and  the  means  of 
success.  No  young  man  more  thoroughly  mastered 
these  laws  and  observed  them  than  the  subject  of 
this  notice. 

In  1 83 1  Mr.  Pratt  removed  to  Baltimore,  and 
established  himself  as  a  commission  merchant.  He 
founded  the  wholesale  iron  house  of  Pratt  &  Keith  and 
subsequendy  that  of  Enoch  Pratt  &  Brother,  which 
latter  now  consists  of  himself  and  his  brother-in-law, 
Henry  Janes.  No  firms  have  been  more  successful 
in  business,  though  much  of  the  time  of  Mr.  Pratt  has 
been  given  to  industrial  enterprises  of  a  public  nature, 
and  to  financial  institutions.  He  has  been  Director 
and  President  of  the  National  Farmers'  and  Planters' 
Bank  for  forty-five  years;  Director  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  and  Baltimore 
Railroad  for  twenty-seven  years;  also  President  or 
Director  of  numerous  other  institutions.  In  the  early 
history  of  railroads,  he  identified  himself  closely  with 


119 

the  Philadelphia,  Wilmington  and  Baltimore,  as  well 
as  with  other  railroads  and  steamboat  lines  connecting 
with  Baltimore  or  the  South.  Durine  his  residence 
of  fifty-five  years  in  Baltimore,  Mr.  Pratt  has  devoted 
not  only  his  means  largely,  but  his  energy  and  talents 
to  all  enterprises  of  a  public  nature  that  have  been 
projected,  having  for  their  object  the  commercial  or 
industrial  advancement  of  the  city.  His  capital  and 
encouragement  have  been  extended  to  many  of  the 
various  manufacturing  industries  in  our  midst,  as  he 
recognized  the  great  importance  of  the  development 
of  domestic  manufactures,  while  not  neglecting  the 
establishment  of  new  and  better  highways  for  our 
commerce,  both  foreign  and  domestic. 

He  is  now  President  of  the  House  of  Reforma- 
tion (for  Colored  Children),  at  Cheltenham,  Prince 
George's  County,  and  of  the  Maryland  School  for 
the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  at  Frederick.  To  the  success  of 
both  Institutions  he  contributed  largely  of  his  own 
private  means.  Mr.  Pratt  has  also  taken  a  lively  inter- 
est in  the  Maryland  Institute  for  the  Promotion  of  the 
Mechanic  Arts.  The  costly  bell  and  clock  in  the  tower 
of  the  Institute  building  were  his  gift.  As  the 
Treasurer  of  the  Peabody  Institute,  he  was  highly  com- 
plimented, by  the  late  eminent  banker  who  founded  it, 
as  one  of  the  ablest  financiers  he  had  ever  known.  The 
ease  and  success  with  which  he  conducted  the  great 
trust   of  millions  without   loss,  and  with  a  skill    to 


120 

secure  all  possible  legitimate  gains,  afford  a  singular 
contrast  to  modern  examples  of  administrative  weak- 
ness. In  1877  he  was  unanimously  elected  by  the 
City  Council  one  of  the  Finance  Commissioners  of 
the  City,  a  post  of  honor  and  great  responsibility. 
This  was  truly  a  high  compliment,  for  the  reason  that 
he  was  not  a  member  of  the  political  party  then  in 
power.  His  services  as  Commissioner  proved  to  be 
invaluable  in  shaping  the  financial  policy  of  the 
municipality. 

The  pressure  of  his  private  interests,  however, 
induced  him  after  a  time  to  withdraw  from  this 
position. 

One  of  his  colleagues  at  that  time  was  the  Hon. 
James  Hodges,  now  Mayor  of  Baltimore. 

Soon  after  the  induction  of  Mr.  Hodges  into  ofKice, 
the  City  Council,  with  great  unanimity,  elected  Mr. 
Pratt  again  to  the  position  of  Finance  Commissioner, 
which  office  he  now  holds.  This  compliment,  entirely 
unsolicited  and  unexpected,  was  paid  to  Mr.  Pratt  in 
recognition  of  his  former  services  to  the  City  in  the 
same  position,  and  as  a  tribute  to  his  ability  and  long 
experience  as  a  financier  and  a  citizen  to  whom  Bal- 
timore owes  much. 

With  this  exception,  Mr.  Pratt  has  uniformly 
declined  all  overtures  from  the  citizens  of  Baltimore 
or  the  State  of  Maryland  to  hold  any  political  office, 
although  frequently  urged  strongly  to  allow  his  name 
to  be  used  in  such  a  connection. 


121 

But  In  favoring  his  adopted  city,  Mr.  Pratt  did  not 
forget  his  native  town  in  Massachusetts.  In  1867  he 
endowed  an  academy  in  North  Middleborough  with 
the  sum  of  $30,000,  and  made  it  free  to  children  within 
a  certain  distance.  In  1858,  when  the  Congregational 
church  of  Titiciit  was  burned,  he  aided  them  to 
rebuild,  and  presented  them  with  a  clock  and  bell. 

Of  his  happy  domestic  relations,  it  may  be  proper 
to  add  that  he  was  married  August  ist,  1837,  to  ^ 
most  estimable  lady,  Maria  Louisa  Hyde,  whose 
paternal  ancestors  were  among  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Massachusetts,  while  on  the  mother's  side  she  is 
descended  from  a  German  family  which  located  in 
Baltimore  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 
The  circle  of  his  home,  whetiier  large  or  small,  is 
made  as  happy  as  the  means  of  wealth  can  command, 
and  the  presence  of  a  noble  and  cheerful  mind  can 
inspire. 

Mr.  Pratt  is  in  the  full  possession  of  mental  and 
physical  vigor,  and  is  enjoying,  without  display  or 
ostentation,  the  rewards  of  an  unspotted  career  and 
a  life  of  unclouded  prosperity.  His  large  fortune  has 
been  accumulated  entirely  by  the  labor  of  his  own 
hands,  and  is  the  direct  result  of  a  tireless  industry 
and  the  application  of  strict  integrity  and  fixedness 
of  purpose  to  acquire  and  a  wise  economy  and  sagacity 
to  save.  When  he  left  his  Northern  home  to  seek 
his  fortune  in  Baltimore  he  had  not  a  dollar  at  his 


122 

command.  During  his  long  commercial  career  he 
has  studiously  avoided  engaging  in  speculation  of  any 
kind,  however  alluringly  presented  ;  confining  himself 
strictly  to  the  slow  gains  from  the  channels  of  legiti- 
mate trade,  thus  avoiding  the  rocks  upon  which  so 
many  hopes  and  fortunes  have  been  wrecked. 

No  man  is  more  unassuming  in  his  manners,  or 
more  modest  in  speaking  of  what  he  has  done,  or  of 
his  personal  merits.  It  cannot  be  seen  that  good 
fortune  adds  to  his  vanity,  or  good  deeds  to  his  pride, 
or  that  occasional  losses  annoy  him.  He  dislikes 
flattery  and  unnecessary  ceremony,  and  in  his  inter- 
course with  his  neighbors  and  friends  he  has  a  kind 
and  ready  greeting  for  all  classes,  uttered  with  an 
unchangeable  dignity  that  is  the  natural  language  of 
high  motives  and  undisguised  sincerity. 

In  his  religious  views  Mr.  Pratt  is  an  eclectic, 
believing  in  the  rule  of  God,  and  finding  good  in  all 
things.  His  scale  of  duty  is  not  measured  to  time, 
and  in  his  acts  of  to-day  he  religiously  provides  for 
the  future.  He  is  an  active  member  of  the  Unitarian 
Society  of  Baltimore ;  but  he  looks  for  a  man's 
religion  in  his  deeds.  He  may  be  spoken  of,  in  the 
language  of  Tennyson,  as  one 

Whose  faith  has  centre  everywhere, 
Nor  cares  to  fix  itself  to  form. 


^.     ^ 


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